Totally New to BB7s. Taking Chaos Dwarfs!

[jmw23]

I’ve been invited to participate in my first BB7s tournament. I’m excited, but I have no clue what I’m doing. Would anyone care to share some general tips for 7s? I’ll be bringing Chaos Dwarfs, and I’m still goofing around with different rosters. How important do you guys think replacement players are? An appo? A Reroll? As per the rules of the tournament I only get two general skills, and I’m thinking Sure Hands on a hobgoblin might be key. Thanks!

[Wyzard]

I've been to a couple of tourneys. 7s is fun but can be a rough ride if your dice go south. Can be great if the other coaches' dice go south. Really fast game if both sets of dice are cursed by Nuffle.

Assume you only have 600K, 4 positional max and no leader/pro. Seems to be a fairly standard build.

1-2 bulls (or a mino for fun), chorfs and the rest hobs. Your desired play-style can dictate what positions you take. Hob w/sure hands and block a bull would be my thoughts. You have some options and having at least a small bench (hobs break) is a good idea. You could go larger bench and foul a bit more.

No RR makes for a quick game and really forces you to manage risks and make plays in the order of importance. And a skull or 1 will always show up.

Since the starting position of the game/half is different blitzing on the 1st turn when you receive can be risky so I generally kick when I can in the first half.

Have fun

[jmw23]

Thanks so much for the advice, it was greatly appreciated. This tournament allows Chaos Dwarfs to take 2 normal skills. Additionally, one positional, and one 0-16 are nominated as "Bash Brothers" and they get additional skills depending on the game.

- Game 1 – No effect
- Game 2 – Bash Brothers gain Block
- Game 3 – Bash Brothers Gain Mighty Blow and -1 AG
- Game 4 – Bash Brothers must use the throw in template to move as they have had a lot to drink and cannot walk in a straight line. They also lose access to any Agility Skill they may have had.


I'm trying to decide between these three rosters:

2 Bull Centaur 260 (1 gets Block, the other is a Bash Brother)
2 Chaos Dwarf Blockers 140
5 Hobgoblins 200 (1 gets Sure Hands, another is a Bash Brother)
2 extra Hobgoblins gives me a bench...not sure if I really need two though. I'd prefer one and an appo, but I'm just shy on cash.



1 Bull Centaur 130 (Bash Brother)
3 Chaos Dwarf Blockers 210 (1 skill to play with here. I feel like Guard might be less useful with fewer players. Maybe Mighty Blow?)
3 Hobgoblins 120 (1 gets Sure Hands, another is a Bash Brother)
1 Re-Roll 140
A Re-Roll might be nice, but then I'm shorting myself on Bull Centaurs, and losing any bench. I'm leaning away from this build.

1 Bull Centaur 130 (Block)
1 Minotaur 150 (Bash Brother)
2 Chaos Dwarf Blockers 140
3 Hobgoblins 120 (Sure Hands)
1 Appo or Hobgoblin along with a cheerleader and an AC?
This could be fun. Making the Mino a Bash Brother is kind of double-edged. On the one hand, a Big Guy with Block is dangerous. On the other, when he gains Mighty Blow it will be totally wasted, and that last game where he staggers around could be rough.

Right now I'm leaning towards the first build. What do you think?

[Jip]

These articles might be of use to you:

https://www.thenaf.net/2017/07/new-to-tournaments/

https://www.thenaf.net/2018/06/learning-to-love-sevens/

[jmw23]

Those are great, thank you! I've played in a lot of Magic tournaments, but BB is a different animal.

[Wyzard]

Interesting rule with the Bash Brothers.

From the few games I've played most don't bother with RRs over bench or positions. Built in RR (sure hands) or skills like block are desired.

Bench of 8-9 should be good. I'd stay away from making the mino wobbly for game 4. If you need to blitz him for a hit or move for position you want him going where you need him. And as you said - you lose a MB elsewhere. A MB/Tackle chorf is a good idea for killing power. On the other side, guard can allow you more hits - even though there are less players the field is smaller so things can bunch up. Taking a block bull isn't a bad idea either.

How you staff the team depends on your play style and what you find fun. 2 bulls is probably better than 1 + minotaur but the chance of a 3d block blitzing animal is fun in it's own way.

Good luck and post what you took and how you did.

[jmw23]

The tournament was yesterday. I decided to switch to Orcs (my only other painted team) a week ago, since I was worried about time and felt Orcs were a little more straightforward to play. I took:

1 Black Orc (Bash Brother)
3 Blitzers (Sure Hands, Tackle)
4 Linemen
Apothecary
1FF
1AC
1Cheer

I went 2-1-1, not bad for my first tournament, and my first time playing Sevens! I faced Amazons twice (one loss, one tie), Goblins, and Humans. I learned a lot, and after losing instead of getting a tie in game one due to time, played quick enough that I didn't run out of time in the last three rounds. The special rules were fun, and added a little wrinkle to the game. They definitely hurt teams where everyone has an Agility skill, meaning Amazons later on suffered a bit. Sadly I played against them early! Tackle was invaluable, and but for a thrown rock taking out my Tackler at the start of my second game against Amazons, I feel like I could have done even better. Thanks for all the helpful advice and suggestions!