So you've just bought Blood Bowl and maybe tried to play a few games and are feeling a bit confused, if so then this guide may help somewhat. I am not going to go over the rules as that would take far too long but I do suggest that you give the rulebook a read, you can find it by clicking the manuals link on Blood Bowls game page or by visiting this link: http://www.games-workshop.com/MEDIA_CustomProductCatalog/m1310002_BB_Complete_Blood_Bowl_Rulebook.pdf. You won't be able to simply learn all the rules from reading however so I would suggest having the manual open/printing it and then playing some games and referring to the manual whenever something you don't understand happens in game.

So if you have at least looked at the manual (and not been scared off!) then I will start with a few basic tips that will help you once you get into a match.

Note: This guide is still a work in progress at the moment, I plan to add some team specific guides in the future! If you have any specific team you want covering feel free to mention it in the comments and I will see what I can do!

Blood Bowl is a turn based strategy game where success lies in how often you roll dice, good players will ensure that they roll as few dice as possible since each roll you have to make has a chance of ending your turn, with this is mind here are some things to help you take your turn:

1. Make all moves that don't require dice rolls. Start your turn by moving some players near the ball or forming a screen/cage around your ball carrier, basically getting your players in position to stop your opponents from being able to easily move away from you or stop them from killing your ball carrier. Leave one player who will be able to run and collect the ball if you are receiving from kick off though.

2. Once all your non dice roll moves are done do any important 2 dice blocks that you need to do. By important I mean blocks that help free up other players who you may want to move next turn or blocks/blitzes on the ball carrier if you are lucky enough to be able to get a 2 dice block on him. Additionally try not to ever start your turn by blocking with your big guy (Minotaur/Troll/Ogre/etc.) while it seems tempting most of them have Loner and don't have Block so if you roll double skulls or double both downs then you will have to be very lucky to even be able to use a reroll to correct it.

3. If you received from kick off and have now moved 2-3 players in position around the ball then now is the time to try picking it up, you would think this would be easy but in Blood Bowl nothing is easy! You need the other players around the ball to either protect your ball carrier when he gets it or to maybe catch the ball if you fumble it and it bounces to them. Even if you don't end your turn with the ball you should be in a fairly okay spot since having players near a ball on the ground makes it harder for the opponent to pick up as well.

4. If you have got this far without a turnover then things are going pretty well, finally before I press that end turn button I will simply do any punching that I didn't do earlier. Feel free to indulge in some 1 dice blocks here since even if it fails you have the ball and it is pretty well protected so the worst that could happen is an injury and turnover.

Hopefully these tips will help you get an idea of what to prioritize when you are playing.

Right, down to general tips now. Just a few things to keep in mind as you play and get better at the game!

• If you choose to foul try to only aim for your opponents more skillful players, there is no point fouling a lineman with 0 star player points (SPP) but fouling his blitzer with 4 strength/agility will really ruin his day if you injure him! It also makes the chance of a sending off more worth it if you at least take a good player with you rather than a bad one.
  
• This may sound obvious but....Don't forget to score! I will admit to having done this myself a few times when playing as a bashy team! Don't get so carried away punching things that you forget to score a touchdown, always be aware of what turn you are on and make sure you score before the half ends and you feel silly.
  
• Read this guide on Blocking! http://bloodbowl.dk/upload/The%20art%20of%20Blocking.pdf
  
• Prepare for failure. I have heard people call Blood Bowl a pessimists game and I can't disagree, so when positioning players or planning a blitz/block/pass or anything that needs a dice roll think about what will happen if you fail and plan accordingly.
  
• Remember that no matter how strong/fast/amazing your favourite player is, he is going to die. Maybe from a punch, maybe from a foul or maybe even from tripping over his own shoelaces but he will die and you will be annoyed but just try and laugh it off instead of swearing at your opponent or insulting them (unless you are playing vs. the AI then give him hell!)
  
• Don't go for it (GFI) unless you desperately need the extra movement or you aren't worried about it failing. One of my friends swears that GFI rolls use D3's instead of D6's due to the astounding number of times you will roll a 1!
  
• If you come up against a cage of death with the ball carrier in the centre the best way to deal with it is to stand your players 1 space away from the cage rather than putting them right next to it. This way your opponent will be forced to blitz and since he can only do one blitz per turn his progress down the pitch will be very slow and more often than not he will get annoyed and make a mistake.
  
• Finally, always try to play for fun. I know this can be hard when the dice are screwing you over and your opponent seems to be running circles around your players or killing them with every punch but it happens to us all. So when your star player rolls 3 skulls while blitzing a goblin and gets killed, just laugh at the goblins ridiculous luck and plan horrible revenge upon him on your next turn!

For the first team guide I chose the Orcs. They are a great all round team and a good choice for a new player.

Team Lineup

Standard:

4 x Black Orc
4 x Blitzer
1 x Thrower
2 x Lineorc
3 x Re-rolls

Big Guy option:

4 x Black Orc
4 x Blitzer
1 x Thrower
1 x Lineorc
1 x Troll
2 x Re-rolls

You can also substitute the Lineorc for a goblin if you want to try some goblin chucking with the troll.

Players

Lineorcs 5-3-3-9

The Orc team has some of the best linemen in the game, they may only have average movement but their 9 armor more than makes up for this, they can take a kicking and keep on ticking with the best of your players and once they start to level up they can become extremely tough for opponents to stop. Despite this I personally usually end up sacking my lineorcs as my team improves and replacing them with 1 goblin and another thrower. This is mostly because I enjoy the versitility than goblins bring with agility access as highly mobile catchers and I do like having two throwers for when one is badly hurt/killed. From other guides I have read though I do appear to be in the minority on this as most players just stick with their lineorcs for fouling/assisting/general blocking which I can see the appeal of but I like that passing option for emergencies.

Any skill in [these] brackets are skills that I recommend if you roll a double.

Standard Lineorc - Block, Tackle [Guard] +ST, +AG

Kicking Lineorc - Kick, Block, Tackle [Guard] +ST, +AG

If they haven't rolled a double or a stat up by level 3/4 (depending on how patient you are!) I would recommend sacking them and hiring a new one to try again.

Thrower 5-3-3-8 (Pass, Sure Hands)

Although Orcs are not a passing team and shouldn't be developed as one, throwers are useful as they start with Sure Hands which really helps mitigate the frustration of being unable to pick up the ball. Also pass helps if you get into trouble and have to throw it to save yourself, with 3 agility they aren't awful at it but just don't rely on passing working that often. When your pass does work though it can really throw your opponent and make them wary of leaving any players unmarked so it is a nice extra tool to have when your opponent thinks he has your tactics worked out!

Ball Carrier - Block, Kick off Return, Fend, Nerves of Steel [Dodge, Sidestep] +ST, +AG, +MV

You should make your first thrower the main ball carrier and as such block is a priority unless you get lucky and roll +ST/+AG on his first level up. Kick off Return is another must as far as I am concerned since with only 5 movement anything that helps you pick the ball up and get it to a nice safe cage in one turn from a kickoff has to be good. A player with sure hands and block inside a cage is pretty difficult to get the ball off and once you add fend to the mix players will have an even harder time marking him, top this off with dodge if you are lucky enough to get a double and you have a player who can only lose the ball on one result on the block dice.

Defensive Thrower - Block, Kick, Nerves Of Steel, Fend/Tackle [Dodge, Guard] +ST, +AG, +MV

This type of thrower comes in hand later on especially if like me you end up getting rid of your lineorcs. Since I give him kick he tends to stay back and act as a back up ball carrier in case of injury as well as a ball retriever which is helped by nerves of steel so he doesnt have to worry about tackle zones when grabbing the ball. If he gets guard he also makes for a useful block assister, fend or tackle is the last choice and comes down to whether he spends more time with the ball or more time blocking ball carriers so that one depends on how you find you have been playing him.

Black Orc 4-4-2-9

Ahhh the Black Orc, tremendously unreliable until they get block but powerhouses once they do. 4 ST and 9 Armor ensure they won't be leaving the pitch too often and once block arrives they will be even harder to get rid of. Their skill progression is pretty straight forward since they really only have one role, to hurt people and not get hurt themselves.

Standard - Block, Guard, Mighty Blow, Stand Firm, Grab [Dodge, Jump Up] +ST

Some argue that guard should be taken first but after just a few games with 4 black orcs without block you will soon see why block is so useful on them. Guard should always be taken 2nd though since the abilty to always have 2d blocks is what makes these guys so dangerous.

Blitzers 6-3-3-9 (Block)

These guys really are the stars of the Orc team, they are the fastest players you have and can be the killingest players when developed properly. I tend to make 2 of my blitzers into murder machines and 2 into supporting blitzers (who can murder things too)

Killers - Tackle, Mighty Blow, Piling On, Frenzy [Jump Up, Dodge] +ST +AG +MV

I always take tackle first on my blitzers no matter what role they will be playing this is because as a Orc coach I hate stunty gobbos, tricksy halflings, prancing elves and other dodgy gits trying to get past me. It also helps me to punch players with dodge which is a god send since most of the teams I mentionend there have low armor and hurting them is good. Follow this with MB to increase the chance of pain and then piling on to give you two chances to murder them and you become something of a killing machine. Jump up is amazing with Piling On since it removes the movement penalty on standing up which is something you will be doing a lot. Frenzy is a bit dangerous with a 3 strength player but it adds even more chances to cause injuries so is worth considering.

Support - Tackle, Guard, Strip Ball/Mighty Blow [Dodge, Diving Tackle, Side Step]

My support generally rush around harassing the ball carrier and helping other players with blocks/blitzes. I also like to give one or both Strip ball especially if you get dodge on one of your blitzers since having someone with block/dodge/strip ball will ensure that your opponent can never relax with the ball as you always have a pretty decent chance of stealing it away.

Troll 4-5-1-9 (Loner, Always Hungry, Mighty Blow, Really Stupid, Regeneration)

I like trolls. Sure they are stupid, sure they have an annoying habit of eating your goblins but they make up for it by being big mean gits who when placed between some black orcs on the LOS can cause some serious pain. A line of scrimmage with 4 BOs and a Troll with guard will give even the bashiest of opponents a fright.

Troll - Guard, Break Tackle, Stand Firm, Grab [BLOCK, Dodge] +ST

Simple skill progression really. Guard first unless you get a double then grab block, I would even be tempted to take block if you roll 12 since although 6 strength is nice the extra reliability of block is nearly too good to pass up. What I tend to do with trolls is level them to 3 and if they haven't gotten a double for block or a +ST then I sack them and just hire a new one and try again, it's harsh but it's the only way they learn!

Goblin 6-2-3-7 (Right Stuff, Dodge, Stunty)

This is another player who I let get to about level 3 maybe 4 at a push and then sack if they haven't gotten a double or skill up.

Catcher - Catch, Diving Catch, Side Step [Block] +AG, +ST, +MV

If you get +AG grab it asap as a 4 agility goblin can pretty much go where he wants to on the pitch, when (not if, sack em remember!) you get block you have a hard to stop blodging catcher who can sneak into the opponents half and provide a second option for you if your cage starts to collapse. Diving catch will make him a little more reliable as with it even if your thrower screws up there is still a chance your goblin may be able to grab it.

Second guide time. And this one is for the Chaos team, they are another pretty good team for beginners and have some good bashing potential as well as some very versatile players in the beastmen.

Team Lineups

Standard

4 x Chaos Warriors
7 x Beastmen
3 x Re-rolls

With Minotaur

1 x Minotaur
3 x Chaos Warrior
7 x Beastmen
2 x Re-rolls

I prefer the standard build myself with an apothecary first followed by a Minotaur later, I also prefer to have 3 re-rolls minimum on most of my teams too.

Players

Chaos Warrior 5-4-3-9

The death dealing roadblock of the Chaos team. With high strength, high armour and better than average agility (for a strength 4 player anyway) these guys are the lynchpins of your team. They are also fairly easy to build for the first few levels but then you may have some hard choices!

Warrior - Block, Guard, Mighty Blow, (Claw, Stand Firm, Piling On, Tackle, Tentacles) [Diving Tackle, Side Step, Jump Up] +ST

As you can see the first 3 skills are easy but once you have them you have a choice. Claw is great for killing especially against high armour opponents. Stand Firm will give your cage a lot more stability, having your ball carrier surrounded by 4 warriors with Stand Firm will be very hard for anyone to break into. Piling On is something I would only get on a warrior if he has already rolled a double and gotten Jump Up since you don't want a warrior prone and open for fouling if you can help it. Tackle is great against dodgy teams like Skaven or Elves since it stops them dodging so easily and hurts them more easily. And finally Tentacles is nice for warriors you plan to leave on the line of scrimmage, although having said this I usually prefer to give it to my Minotaur.

Beastmen 6-3-3-8 (Horns)

This is what most of your team will be made up of and they can fill pretty much any role you want. They have the Horns ability which adds 1 to their strength when they blitz basically giving you a whole team that can blitz with 4 strength! Here are some popular ways to build them.

Linebeast - Block, Guard, Prehensile Tail/Mighty Blow, Stand Firm, Tackle [Diving Tackle, Side Step] +ST

This guy is for use on the line of scrimmage or as a support to your warriors, I would usually take Prehensile Tail here over Mighty Blow since I really hate players that try dodging past me and love watching them fail!

Killer - Block, Mighty Blow, Piling On, Claw [Jump Up] +ST

Guess what this one does! A beastman built like this will be a player killing machine, Mighty Blow combined with Piling On is a potent combination that gives you two chances to cause an injury.

Blitzer - Block/Wrestle, Tackle, Frenzy/Mighty Blow, Juggernaut +ST

These guys are good for hitting the opponents ball carrier, for this reason you might prefer Wrestle over Block since then you both go down on a both down result but without the turnover and he will drop the ball. I personally always pick Mighty Blow rather than Frenzy just because Frenzy can result in a lot of 1 dice blocking situations that I prefer to avoid.

Ball Carrier - Extra Arms, Sure Hands, Block, Fend [Side Step, Dodge] +AG, +ST

Pretty simple, Extra Arms gives you +1 to pick up and Sure Hands gives you a free pick up re-roll. Block and Fend will make it hard to knock you down and keep you out of harms way and if you ever manage to get both Sidestep and Dodge you will have a nightmare for your opponents to try knocking over!

Retriever - Big Hand, Two Heads, Block, Fend [Dodge] +AG, +ST

Similar to the ball carrier but this guy is used for grabbing the ball when you have punched the opponents carrier and it is loose near some enemy players. Big Hand will negate the penalty for pick ups/catches in tackle zones whilst Two Heads (and Dodge or +AG if you get lucky!) will help you to then get the ball away from your opponent as well.

Minotaur 5-5-2-8 (Loner, Frenzy, Horns, Mighty Blow,Thick Skull, Wild Animal)

I like the Minotaur, for all the pain Wild Animal will cause you the few games you have where he is a killing machine more than make up for it. There are two common builds for him, one is just for slaughter while the second makes him into more of a roadblock that happens to kill things as well!

Killer - Juggernaut, Claw, Break Tackle, Stand Firm [BLOCK!, Pro, Tackle]

As with all big guys the first double you get should always be used on Block, I have sometimes even chosen Block over a +ST upgrade because it helps them out so much.

Deadly Roadblock - Juggernaut, Stand Firm, Claw, Guard, Tentacles, Multiple Block [BLOCK!, Pro, Tackle]

This guy will stand in the centre of the line of scrimmage killing anything that comes near him. He is not designed to be blitzing around the pitch like the killer but rather just standing near a bunch of players and harassing them with Tentacles and Multiple Block.

A few things about the Khemri team. They are slow, I am talking Dwarf levels of slowness here, and they have no players with more than 2 agility which makes picking the ball up/dodging/passing all things that you won't really be spending much time on. So you may be wondering what use they are if they can't even pick up a ball...well they can punch. Oh boy can they punch, you have 4 strength 5 players off the bat with your Tomb Guardians and a couple of Blitz-ras with Block for all your blitzing needs, then you have the expendable skeletons which make great foulers. This is why I like this team so much, but if you are a new player you may not enjoy them all that much since failing to pick the ball up over and over again can be frustrating.

Rosters

3 x Tomb Guardian
2 x Blitz-ra
1 x Throw-ra
6 x Skeleton
3 x Re-rolls

This roster is a pretty safe one since you start with both Blitz-ras and a Throw-ra but sadly with only 3 of your Tomb Guardians so you should save some cash for your 4th one straight away.

4 x Tomb Guardian
1 x Blitz-ra
1 x Throw-ra
5 x Skeleton
3 x Re-rolls

If you want to start with all 4 Tomb Guardians but still have some slight chance of picking up the ball then this is the roster for you, pick up your 2nd Blitz-ra when you can afford him.

4 x Tomb Guardians
2 x Blitz-ra
5 x Skeleton
3 x Re-rolls

And this is my preferred roster, sure I can't pick up the ball but I can maim my opponents so badly that they will be too scared to even try coming to get it themselves!


Players

Tomb Guardians 4-5-1-9 (Decay, Regeneration)

These are basically big guys for any other team but without Loner/Really Stupid or any of the other negatraits. They do have Decay though so if someone does manage to break their armour you may be in for a serious injury. Thankfully Regeneration will get them back up on their feet more often than not so it isn't too bad. These players have two main jobs, first to beat the stuffing out of any player unlucky enough to be nearby and second to form an line of scary strength 5 players between your opponents and your ball carrier.

Standard Development - Guard, Mighty Blow, Stand Firm, Grab [BLOCK, Tackle, Dodge, Jump Up] +ST,

Guard is great as a first skill since because you can't get block unless you roll a double you want to ensure that you are rolling 3 dice on blocks as much as possible with Tomb Guardians. I generally build all my TG's as above but I have seen some players make one or two into blitzers by getting Break Tackle, Juggernaut, Mighty Blow. I see the appeal of this but because they only have 4 movement they will only be able to blitz players very close by.

Blitz-ra 6-3-2-8 (Block, Regeneration)

These fellas are good at blitzing the opposing ball carrier or just for generally blitzing anyone who needs it. They can be tailored for either offensive/defensive utility players or for straight up killing and as the only players that start with Block on the Khemri team they will be invaluble in the early stages of your teams life.

Killer - Mighty Blow, Piling On, Tackle, Frenzy [Jump Up] +ST

Standard killer build to be honest, this pretty much goes for any team you play as if you want to make someone deadly. The combonation of Mighty Blow with Piling On really racks up the injuries and once you have Jump Up you don't suffer any penalties from having to stand him up every turn.

Defensive Utility - Tackle, Strip Ball, Guard, Stand Firm [Dodge, Diving Tackle]

Blitz-ras built like this are good for getting the ball off of the ball carrier. Tackle and Strip Ball along with his standard Block mean that you will get the ball loose on anything but an attacker down result. Team this with Guard and Stand Firm and you have a player who can knock the ball free and then stay where he is and slow the opponents down until you can get more players over to help retrieve the ball.

Offensive Utility - Guard, Stand Firm, Grab, Tackle [Dodge]

This build is made for assisting and pushing the other players to exactly where you want them with Grab. Guard will help him assist your killers or Tomb Guardians while Stand Firm will again help him to stay where you put him. Dodge can be good if you roll a double but it isn't all that useful so I will leave it up to you.

Thro-ra 6-3-2-7 (Pass, Regeneration, Sure Hands)

I think these guys have Pass as standard as a bit of a joke, you can try passing as Khemri if you like but unless you happen to get a +AG Thro-ra and a similarly lucky player to catch it then you will not have much luck. They do however get Sure Hands which you will learn to love, this is offset by the 2 agility though don't be surprised if you don't pick the ball up on the first turn every time.

Thro-ra Runner - Kick Off Return, Leader, Block, Fend [Dodge, Side Step] +AG, +MV, +ST

Kick Off Return is a must as they have a relatively low movement of 6 so the less moving you have to do to retrieve the ball the better. Leader gives you an extra re-roll which helps massively as you can imagine, then once you get Block and Fend he will be harder to knock down and able to leg it after most blocks as long as he doesn't go down. If you do ever roll 10/11 or 12 I would recomment getting the stat increase as they are all good for Thro-ras though agility and strength are argubly more valuble than movement I still wouldn't say no to a 7 movement Thro-ra.

Skeletons 5-3-2-7 (Regeneration, Thick Skull)

These are your rank and file players, they will die a lot but they are cheap so don't be scared to use them to tie up your opponents players. Since you will be lucky to get one over level 2/3 there isn't really a build per se but you should try and give the first one to level up Kick so you can place your kicks more accurately. After that get some Dirty Players and then some with Wrestle/Block as you see fit. If you do roll a double go for Guard so they can help assist your other, better players.

General Tactics

Given how slow they are there is only really one way to play Khemri and that is slowly and steadily. When receiving get a cage of players around wherever the ball lands and then do some 2 or 3 dice blocks where possible and finally try and collect the ball. If all goes well you will have the ball inside of an angry cage of players and can then start slowly moving up the pitch killing as you go. If you don't pick it up you should still be okay since you will have a loose ball surrounded by an angry cage of players so in this case you can just spend each turn punching anyone who gets near the ball and trying to pick it up yourself. The teams that will give you the most trouble are the really fast moving ones like Skaven/Wood Elf. They will spend the whole game dodging past your whole team and causing you a headache, and when playing them I suggest going for the 2-1 grind which is to choose to kick and then let them score on the 2nd/3rd turn (the sooner the better) so you will have as much of the first half as possible free to equalize and then the whole of the second half to score again for the win.

Since I have spoken a bit about 'caging' in the first few guides it is best if I give you a link that will help explain the concept in case you are a brand new player. While not complex (the name does kind of give away what it involves!) there are things you can do to make your cage more effective and in this case Coach's article on cages from the bbtactics site does a better job of explaining it than I can so go here for more info: http://bbtactics.com/cage-basics/

Frenzy

A player with this skill is a slavering psychopath who attacks his opponents in an uncontrollable rage. Unless otherwise overridden, this skill must always be used. When making a block, a player with this skill must always follow up if they can. If a 'Pushed' or 'Defender Stumbles' result was chosen, the player must immediately throw a second block against the same opponent so long as they are both still standing and adjacent. If possible the player must also follow up this second block. If the frenzied player is performing a blitz action then he must pay a square of movement and must make the second block unless he has no further normal movement and cannot go for it again.

This is the only way to start a guide for the newly implemented Khorne Daemons team since to play them successfully you must understand the Frenzy skill. You only have 4 players on your team without Frenzy so knowing how to best use it to destroy your opponents is key. Any block thrown with Frenzy basically gives you two attacks against your chosen target so if you are throwing 1 dice blocks you will have a higher chance of failure but with 2 dice blocks and above you will have a higher chance of success. The key is to ensure that where possible you only block/blitz with 2 dice to give you the optimum chance of success, this means that you will generally need to be careful in positioning of your players and make sure that you support anyone you may want to use for blocking.

The other advantage of Frenzy is that since it will result in your target being moved two spaces you can easily break apart your opponents formation or use it to push players off of the pitch more easily. The downside is that any injuries caused by pushing someone off the pitch (known as surfing) will not give you any star player points so the team can take a bit longer to develop than other teams. All this Frenzy does have one more downside though, Side Step. You get an opponent with a lot of Side Step and you will spend the whole match cursing his players as you fail to get them away from your ball carrier, all you can do is hope for good dice so you can injure as many of them as possible! With all that said let's move on to some common team builds.

Rosters

Safety First

2 x Khorne Heralds
9 x Pit Fighter
4 x Re-rolls

A nice safe starting roster with 4 re-rolls from the start, you will have 11 players with frenzy though so you will have to be extra careful in your early games to avoid turnovers, save for a Bloodletter first followed by an apothecary and then buy the other 3 Bloodletters and a Bloodthirster as you see fit.

Less Frenzy

7 x Pit Fighter
4 x Bloodletter Daemons
1 x Apothecary
3 x Re-rolls

This roster has the lowest number of frenzy players it is possible to play with as well as having all 4 Bloodletters which with access to General, Agility and Strength skills on normal rolls are players who you will want to level up quickly. I would save for the 2 Khorne Heralds as soon as possible with this roster and then follow with either the Bloodthirster or another re-roll.

Big Guys have all the fun

10 x Pit Fighter
1 x Bloodthirster
3 x Re-roll

Khorne is the only team that can get away with a starting roster like this one as usually having all linemen and your big guy wouldn't be a very good plan (Chaos with Beastmen and the Minotaur is the only other team it might work with). However, the Bloodthirster is such a good big guy that this roster can work combined with the fact that the Pit Fighters are just as good as your Heralds for blocking (though not blitzing) and you really aren't missing out all that much. Still do get the Heralds/Bloodletters as soon as you can.

The Daemoning

2 x Khorne Heralds
1 x Bloodletter Daemon
8 x Pit Fighter
3 x Re-roll
1 x Apothecary

This is a solid roster and one that I keep meaning to try, you start with both Heralds for killing and a Bloodletter for ball carrying or killing and plenty of Pit Fighters, combined with the 3 re-rolls and apothecary this build is quite a safe one and one I would recommend for new players of this race.

Players

Bloodthirster 6-5-1-9 (Frenzy, Loner, Wild Animal, Claw, Horns, Juggernaut, Regeneration)

Let's start with the big guy! The Bloodthirster is pretty much a stronger version of the minotaur since he starts with Claw and Juggernaut so can cause horrible pain to any team from scratch, he is also extremely reliable as long as he is hitting something which helps tremendously in the early games. Since he does have so many skills that would have been suggested for his build already you aren't really left with much but here are some choices.

Bloodthirster - Mighty Blow, Guard, Break Tackle, Stand Firm [Block, Pro]

Pretty standard big guy stuff really, though it is up to you whether you get Break Tackle or Guard second and it will depend on how you find yourself using him, if you use him to blitz a lot get Break Tackle but if you prefer to leave him in the middle of the pitch to tie players up get Guard.

Khorne Herald 6-3-3-8 (Frenzy, Horns, Juggernaut)

These are the blitzers of your team and like blitzers on any team they are best at hitting stuff hard or supporting your other players so they can hit hard though to be honest either of the builds here will result in player who knows how to hurt people!

Support - Block, Guard, Tackle, Mighty Blow, Stand Firm [Dodge, Side Step] +ST, +MV, +AV

Block is the best first choice for pretty much all of your players with frenzy since it will just make them that much more reliable. Guard is for helping out other players and Tackle will stop them pesky dodgy players from saving themselves from a beating so often. Other than that Mighty Blow and Stand Firm mean you can stay where you are and hurt people better, which is good!

Killer - Block, Mighty Blow, Piling On, Tackle [Jump Up]

See previous guides for the reasons but yeah, this is the standard killer build so do it and kill stuff. Khorne would approve.

Bloodletter Daemons 6-3-3-7 (Horns, Juggernaut, Regeneration)

These are an odd mix of blitzer/ball carrier and receiver and can perform many different roles on your team depending on how you build them and if you get any lucky stat upgrades on level ups.

Support - Block, Dodge, Guard, Side Step, Fend, Tackle/Mighty Blow

This is mainly for getting to the front lines and making a nuisance of yourself once you are there by being hard to move (Dodge/Fend/Side Step are great for this) while providing blocking assistance with Guard.

Sacker - Strip Ball, Dodge, Block, Sure Hands, Guard, Jump Up +MV

If you get a movement stat increase early then this would be a good choice, or if you just fancy having a dedicated ball sacking specialist. Strip Ball & Dodge will help you get to the ball and get it loose while Sure Hands will be useful for retrieval and Guard/Jump Up for ensuring you can be helpful to the back up once it arrives by helping them to punch people.

Killer - Block, Mighty Blow, Piling On, Jump Up, Tackle, Frenzy +ST

Bloodletters can make amazing killers since they don't require a double to get Jump Up, so if you are lucky enough to roll a strength upgrade then I recommend doing it since they will be a nightmare once fully levelled up! The obvious downside is their 7 armour but Regeneration helps out a lot and you always have the apothecary to fall back on too!

Receiver - Block, Dodge, Catch, Diving Catch, Side Step, Sure Feet [Nerves of Steel] +AG, +MV

Got an early agility stat increase? Then consider this build, especially if you also have a Pit Fighter with +AG who has Pass. If you can get a thrower and receiver with 4 agility then you will be able to make some great passing plays as well as running ones which will help keep your opponents on their toes!

*Apparently I had typed out more than I thought, so here is the last part of the Khorne guide!

Pit Fighters 6-3-3-8 (Frenzy)

Your basic lineman but with access to passing skills on normal rolls can also become a thrower or a ball carrier depending on what you need.

Lineman - Block, Dauntless, Fend, Tackle [Guard, Mighty Blow]

This is your standard line of scrimmage Pit Fighter, designed to stand on the line and survive the first wave of blocks that bashy opponents will be throwing. WIth this in mind Block is the obvious first choice with Dauntless being a great 2nd skill for retaliating against stronger players. After this fend will help if they start trying to push you around. If you do get a double get Guard as it is very useful for assisting whoever else is on the line with you.

Kicker - Kick, Block, Leader, Fend [Guard, Dodge, Side Step/Mighty Blow]

I think all teams need at least one kicker since being able to more accurately place your kick off is so useful against pretty much everyone you will face. Leader is a solid choice as well as there is never a good reason to not have an extra re-roll! Again on doubles go for Guard since it is such a useful skill for the Khorne team.

Ball Carrier - Sure Hands, Block, Kick Off Return, Fend [Guard, Dodge, Side Step]

Even on the ball carrier you want Guard on a double! But if you don't want to use a Bloodletter as a ball carrier your Pit Fighters will do a fine job too.

Thrower - Pass, Accurate, Block, Sure Hands, Safe Throw, Nerves of Steel [Strong Arm, Dodge] +AG

If you ever roll a +AG on a Pit Fighter this is the way to go, they have all the tools they need to be an amazing thrower so once you have 4 agility there is no reason not to do it. With Pass, Accurate and Safe Throw he will be very reliable with the passes and Nerves of Steel will let him pass without penalty even if he gets surrounded.

The Chaos Dwarf team is a nice mixture extreme toughness with the dwarves, fair ball handling ability on the hobgoblins and decent movement thanks to your Bull Centaurs. Oh and they can have a Minotaur as well if you really want one! They are a pretty bashy team since although you can only have 6 dwarves those dwarves are just as good as normal dwarf players and the centaurs are powerful blitzers as well so you have 8 players to protect your fairly weedy hobgoblins.

Rosters

1 x Bull Centaur
6 x Chaos Dwarf
4 x Hobgoblin
3 x Re-rolls

This is a good starting roster, you may only have 1 centaur but you start with all 6 of the dwarves so you will have the bashing advantage against most teams. You also get 3 re-rolls which is the minimum I feel safe with on a Chaos Dwarf team. Save for your 2nd Bull Centaur first and then an apothecary. This build leaves you with enough cash for either another reroll or an apothecary or a couple of hobgoblins subs so use the leftover gold on whatever you feel like you want.

2 x Bull Centaur
5 x Chaos Dwarf
4 x Hobgoblin
3 x Re-rolls

I would personally go with this one since I prefer to start with both centaurs because they are amazing. 5 dwarves is nothing to complain about either and since they are fairly cheap your should be able to afford your 6th one after 2/3 games so get him asap then get your apothecary.

2 x Bull Centaur
6 x Chaos Dwarf
3 x Hobgoblin
2 x Re-rolls

The perfect starting lineup...except for the 2 re-rolls. If you know for sure you will be facing a lot of higher rated teams than you in your league then this can work out since you will be likely to always have enough inducement cash for an extra re-roll until you can afford to buy another one permanently but otherwise I would avoid this one.

Players

Minotaur 5-5-2-8 (Loner, Frenzy, Horns, Mighty Blow, Thick Skull, Wild Animal)

Exactly the same as any other minotaur except he will need to roll a double to get any mutations. This coupled with the fact that you really don't need an unreliable big guy on a team with 2 Bull Centaurs and 6 tough dwarves means most players don't bother with the Minotaur. But if you really like frenzy or just have a soft spot for the giant fluffy lug then go for it.

Minotaur - Juggernaut, Stand Firm, Break Tackle [Block, Claw/Tentacles]

Pretty normal Minotaur build really, get these things and he might be less of a liability!

Hobgoblins 6-3-3-7

Basically these are slightly tougher goblins but without any starting skills so they are usually called upon to be the ball carrier, fouler, kicker or any other odd job they may be needed for. I generally make one a ball carrier, one a kicker and one for fouling.

Ball Carrier - Sure Hands, Block, Fend, Kick Off Return [Dodge] +ST, +AG, +MV

Standard ball carrier skills, you may notice that as you look at guides online most ball carrier builds can be translated to any team really. Kick Off Return is the only one you don't always see on ball carriers but it is useful here because 6 movement isn't all that great so it helps you to retrieve the ball from kick off and get it into a safe place.

The kicker gets Kick as his first skill and then you can pick from Block/Wrestle, Strip Ball and the same goes for your fouler except you get Dirty Player first followed but whatever other skills you want. Hobgoblins don't have long lifespans so what you pick won't matter that much since they will probably be replaced before they ever make it to level 3!

Chaos Dwarf 4-3-2-9 (Block, Tackle, Thick Skull)

These are the same as normal dwarven linemen and are just as tough, hard to keep down and hard hitting they are nice reliable players who cause a lot of pain to any team with a lot of Dodge but are equally at home fighting other bashy teams once you get some Guard on a few of them. The thing that sets them apart from dwarven linemen however is mutation access on a double, this can lead to some nasty combinations if you get lucky with your level up rolls!

Line of Scrimmage - Guard, Mighty Blow, Stand Firm, Grab [Foul Appearance/Claw]

This is a roadblock build, once a dwarf has these skills he will be able to stand on the LoS all day and not be able to be pushed around. Grab will allow you to ensure anyone you hit always goes where you want them to go and Stand Firm makes sure you aren't going anywhere yourself. On doubles I would get Foul Appearance to make it a bit harder for opponents to hit you but if you prefer killing things or are in a very bashy league then Claw could suit you pretty well too. I tend to get 2/3 of this type and then build the rest as killers.

Killer - Mighty Blow, Piling On, Frenzy [Claw, Jump Up]

The same killer build you see for most death dealing players but thanks to already having Block and Tackle you can develop them a lot faster than other teams, access to mutations also allows for the glorious Mighty Blow, Claw, Piling On combo as well which will send so many players to their graves!

Bull Centaurs 6-4-2-9 (Sprint, Sure Feet, Thick Skull)

And now we get to the Centaurs, some players swear by them as ball carriers and they can potentially work but with 2 agility you will have to either be lucky with a +AG level up or get Sure Hands and pray it works. I personally use them as blitzers mainly as they can move up to 9 squares with Sprint and Sure Feet helps with the go for it rolls, but don't rely on it too much since you will fail the go for it's an astounding number of times!

Blitzer - Block, Break Tackle, Mighty Blow, Tackle/Strip Ball, Stand Firm, Guard [Dodge] +ST, +MV

I always prefer to get Block first on my Centaurs but Break Tackle is equally useful for mobility so pick whichever you feel most comfortable with first, then Mighty Blow for more damage followed by either Tackle or Strip Ball as these two skills are both good for knocking the ball loose from players with dodge. Finish up with Stand Firm/Guard and you can ensure your centaur sticks around the ball carrier for as long as possible!

Ball Carrier - Sure Hands, Block, Break Tackle, Kick Off Return, Stand Firm/Fend [Dodge] +MV, +AG, +ST

I would honestly only go for a Centaur ball carrier if you get an early +1 agility on one of them but that is just the way I play them so if you want to try it anyway feel free but do expect to fail at picking up the ball quite often! Still with Sure Hands as the first skill he will at least get a free reroll on picking it up and once he has the ball Break Tackle will allow him to get away with it while Stand Firm/Fend should help stop him being pushed into somewhere he can't get out of. Kick Off Return is also quite nice just so he doesn't have to use all his movement up getting to the ball should your opponent have someone with Kick.

Undead

The undead are a good all round team in Blood Bowl. They have players that can smash, others that can dodge and some that can do both all of which are backed up by some expendable zombies/skeletons to take the initial beatings in any match. They also have Regeneration on most of their players meaning that they can bounce back from even the most brutal of injuries on a simple 4+ roll, this makes the team as a whole fast, tough and cheap! Your basic tactics will be using your strong players to punch a hole in your opponents defence and then flooding your faster players through that hole to retrieve the ball, on offence the good old cage is your best bet using your Mummies and Zombies/Skeletons to protect the ball carrier while your Wights create space for the cage and the Ghouls just make a nuisance of themselves!

Rosters

2 x Mummies
2 x Wights
3 x Ghouls
4 x Zombies
3 x Re-rolls

This build basically covers everything you need to be a good Undead team, both Mummies and Wights and 3 out of 4 possible Ghouls. They are supported by 4 Zombies which are generally picked over Skeletons because if you are going to be using them as line fodder or to tie up players then having 8 armour is always better than having 7. You should also note that Undead teams don't require an apothecary, preferring instead to trust in the power of their Necromancer! He doesn't really do anything but I am guessing that Undead teams with apothecarys and regeneration would have been too much of a nightmare for other teams! You can still hire a wandering apothecary with inducements though but you get an Igor instead who will try re-attaching limbs in a way that only Igor's can.

Players

Mummy 3-5-1-9 (Mighty Blow, Regeneration)

Unsurprisingly given their stats, Mummies are for hitting dudes. Their job is to be in the thick of the action ready to punch someone at a moments notice while supporting the other team members with their intimidating presence. Some players will go out of their way to take your Mummy out of the game but with 5 strength and 9 armour it is easier said than done and I have seen my Mummy tie up 4 players in the past and refuse to stay down. The only downside to the Mummy is that lack of easy access to general skills on a level up, what this means is that you will need to roll a double on levelling to be able to give them Block but once they get it they are monstrous.

Mummy - Guard, Stand Firm, Grab [BLOCK!]

This is the basic Mummy skill set, stats increase wise I would take a +ST in a heartbeat and ignore +AG completely. If you do get the +ST then consider Multiple Block as his next skill since this will make him even more dangerous around multiple opponents. Break Tackle is also a useful skill but I would hardly say it is essential, sure being able to get away from other players can be handy but why would I want to move away from my targets! Some people get Guard and Stand Firm and then simply sack them if the next level up isn't a double which you can do if you like but I prefer to keep them around and give them a chance!

Wight 6-3-3-8 (Block, Regeneration)

The Wights are the blitzers of your team, starting with block and decent armour they can make a formidable killer or be turned into a ball sacker (though this duty is often given to the more mobile, if slightly easier to kill, Ghouls)

Blitzer - Tackle, Mighty Blow, Guard, Frenzy [Dodge, Side Step]

I do always like to take Tackle first on my Wights, it makes those games against Skaven/Amazon/Elf much more bearable when you know you have at least 2 players capable of taking the annoying player with Dodge down. The order of the next skills is really up to you but I prefer Mighty Blow second to make sure my enemy stays down followed by Guard to help out nearby friendlies and then Frenzy later to make him more dangerous near the sidelines. On doubles Dodge is always nice for that Block/Dodge combo.

Killer - Tackle, Mighty Blow, Piling On, Frenzy [Jump Up, Dodge]

The usual killer build strikes again! Should you wish to have a mobile killing machine this build will do nicely, always prioritize Jump Up over Dodge on doubles simply because you don't want to be on the ground after Piling On for any longer than you need to be!

Ghoul 7-3-3-7 (Dodge)

These are your jack-of-all-trades players. If you need something doing and aren't sure who should do it then the answer is usually one of your Ghouls. They make for fine ball carriers, retrievers, sackers and passable blitzers if need be. Sadly they have the joint lowest armour on your team as well as being the only players without Regeneration so you shouldn't get too attached to them. Stat upgrades will also help dictate what role you want your ghoul to take, an early +ST and it's a blitzing/sacking career for him while an early +AG gives you a perfect ball carrier.

Ball Carrier - Sure Hands, Block, Fend, Side Step [Guard]

This is the most straight forward of the builds I think, Sure Hands is a given as well as Block for more security once you have hold of the ball. After that Fend and Sidestep will keep your opponents away from your Ghoul which is always what you want. On a double I always take Guard on my ghouls to give them some utility.

Sacker - Wrestle, Tackle, Strip Ball, Diving Tackle [Guard, Mighty Blow]

The guy you want to be blitzing the opposing ball carrier with. Once he has all of these skills then any ball carrier he punches loses the ball on a Both Down without ending your turn, a push and both Defender Stumbles and Down. If they have Sure Hands then Strip Ball is negated but they can't really stop Wrestle or Tackle. I also like Diving Tackle so even if you cannot blitz or block the ball carrier with him he can still make it much harder for them to dodge away. On doubles Guard again is always useful or you can get Mighty Blow if you fancy a change so you will have a better chance of hurting your opponent once you get there!

Zombie 4-3-2-8 (Regeneration)

Zombies are your expendable roadblocks, they stand on the Line of Scrimmage or next to important players to keep them tied up and force dodge rolls or 1 dice blocks. At only 40k each they are so cheap that even if they die it really doesn't matter though regeneration has a 50/50 chance of keeping them alive in the event of one being killed anyway! As I said earlier, these are generally picked over skeletons because of the higher armour and nothing else, I also think they look cooler!

Skills wise there isn't much you can do with a Zombie, just grab Block, Tackle or Dirty Player on normal rolls and get Guard on a double. If you are lucky and get a +ST, +MA or +AV take it just to make him that much more dangerous. Don't expect to get any zombies past level 4 or so though, since although they have 8 armour and regeneration they will tend to take the brunt of your opponents blocks so they do have a pretty high death/serious injury rate.

Skeleton 5-3-2-7 (Thick Skull, Regeneration)

Honestly I don't ever use these guys so I can't say that much about them. They can move slightly further than zombies and have the same ST/AG but less armour. Skills wise they start with Thick Skull to go with Regeneration so they are harder to knock out than zombies but maybe easier to badly hurt due to the lower armour.

For levelling them I would basically follow the zombie route and just grab Block and either Tackle or Dirty Player with Guard on a double. I did look around other guides and forums for more information on Skeletons but they do seem to be barely used by any Undead coaches, so if you want to be different feel free to use these guys and let me know how they pan out for you!