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lost_lilliputian wrote:

Just can't help thinking the Norse team have become beer swilling idiots lol. All the kegs, tankards, random or possible random rules. Really curious now how the team positionals shape up rules wise.

Current GW BB seems to be leaning heavily into the humourous side of BB rather than the 'sporting' or Warhammer side - look at the Necromantic team or another example. At least there's third party options if you don't like the look of them and fortunately I think the remaining teams don't really lend themselves to humour - Amazons, High Elves, Vamps, Chaos Dwarves and Tomb Kings.

They look alright, but not worth the price asking, the punch dagger thingy look ugly and the female player look kinda....boring. But I can see people bought these for the meme : Techno Viking, Kratos, the boar....

Chopstick wrote:
They look alright, but not worth the price asking, the punch dagger thingy look ugly and the female player look kinda....boring. But I can see people bought these for the meme : Techno Viking, Kratos, the boar....

I think the biggest selling points are the boar and using some of the team as space wolves/chaos warriors

Personally I really dig them; best looking Norse team on the market.

I'd probably not assemble them with many of the tankard options and the boars are obviously a bit silly (which is fine for BB) but otherwise I feel like they've actually stuck to a fairly classic aesthetic for them.

I thought the boars were just meant to be the re-roll markers for the team, I guess I need to look more at the actual team stats.

 Theophony wrote:
I thought the boars were just meant to be the re-roll markers for the team, I guess I need to look more at the actual team stats.

The new rules haven't been released yet but in the article yesterday and on livestream, the boars have been referred to as players (costing 20K Gold). They're going to give some sort of on the field buff to nearby Knocked Down players standing up apparently.

JimmyWolf87 wrote:

 Theophony wrote:
I thought the boars were just meant to be the re-roll markers for the team, I guess I need to look more at the actual team stats.

The new rules haven't been released yet but in the article yesterday and on livestream, the boars have been referred to as players (costing 20K Gold). They're going to give some sort of on the field buff to nearby Knocked Down players standing up apparently.

Even if they are absolutely useless for their 20k cost, having one as the 11th player on a starting roster to sit behind the lines and act as a supporting player in a tackle... absolute value.

 NH Gunsmith wrote:

JimmyWolf87 wrote:

 Theophony wrote:
I thought the boars were just meant to be the re-roll markers for the team, I guess I need to look more at the actual team stats.

The new rules haven't been released yet but in the article yesterday and on livestream, the boars have been referred to as players (costing 20K Gold). They're going to give some sort of on the field buff to nearby Knocked Down players standing up apparently.

Even if they are absolutely useless for their 20k cost, having one as the 11th player on a starting roster to sit behind the lines and act as a supporting player in a tackle... absolute value.

Just having something even marginally useful to spend 20K on is going to be pretty valuable in some tournament rosters especially. We'll see what they're stats are like.

Ivar Eriksson, Norse Star Player Preview

That's quite a nice sculpt! With that bandanna reminded me briefly of Hulk Hogan for some reason lol.

So this is the more competitive Norse star player and even gives orders to beer boars too.

Not sure if we already had confirmation of Norse being in the next Spike magazine but there's that as well and more Blood Bowl coming in the next few weeks, hmm good stuff!

Man I wish Blood Bowl appealed to me as a game. The models they’re putting out, whilst infrequent, are incredibly characterful, and not exactly bound by GW’s usual design ethos.

I’ve nowt against it or anything. I’ve just never got my head around how to actually play the game.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
Man I wish Blood Bowl appealed to me as a game. The models they’re putting out, whilst infrequent, are incredibly characterful, and not exactly bound by GW’s usual design ethos.

I’ve nowt against it or anything. I’ve just never got my head around how to actually play the game.

Get drunk, sit down with the rulebook, and you will figure it out.

The video game makes it pretty easy to learn.....

I’ve tried and I’ve tried and I’ve tried. Mr Brain just refuses to, aha, play ball.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
I’ve tried and I’ve tried and I’ve tried. Mr Brain just refuses to, aha, play ball.

Can I ask where you’re getting stuck? No judgment, just genuine curiosity.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
Man I wish Blood Bowl appealed to me as a game. The models they’re putting out, whilst infrequent, are incredibly characterful, and not exactly bound by GW’s usual design ethos.

I’ve nowt against it or anything. I’ve just never got my head around how to actually play the game.

I am 100% with you (or perhaps was), and let me tell you that Dungeon Bowl is the way in.
Now I'm in deep, even plotting out WFRP campaigns set under the spell of Nuffle where almost everyone know thinks that Sports is the only conceivable way to solve a conflict between two groups.

"What ho, plucky adventurer! Please help us - the winter has come early and the harvest has been short, we have enough for ourselves - but the Scar Eye goblins have recruited a ringer, an ogre who claims to be an ex pro blitzer - and if they come for our grain we have no chance with just our local Sonntag league teams. Can you help us?"

Looting tombs for ancient enchanted gear that would see you surely to rise to the big leagues, but having to face the tomb guardians in a now throwback game that had different rules in a few significant areas, exposing cultists of the twin chaos gods of Greed and Corruption (or Corruption and Greed) Phiffa and Ueffer who seek to usurp Nuffle's place in the new world, risking a return to a world of unthinkable bloodshed and poor sportsmanship...

I think I read that manga, except it was about baseball. This cannot go wrong and your players are in for a treat.

I have been thinking about a Blood Bowl RPG too.

 Mr_Rose wrote:

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
I’ve tried and I’ve tried and I’ve tried. Mr Brain just refuses to, aha, play ball.

Can I ask where you’re getting stuck? No judgment, just genuine curiosity.

I just can’t get my head round it at all. Never scored, let alone won a match.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:

 Mr_Rose wrote:

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
I’ve tried and I’ve tried and I’ve tried. Mr Brain just refuses to, aha, play ball.

Can I ask where you’re getting stuck? No judgment, just genuine curiosity.

I just can’t get my head round it at all. Never scored, let alone won a match.

Not unheard of for many starting Blood Bowl. I think some go into the game thinking it will be an action-packed type of game somewhat like a sports video game. The reality is that Blood Bowl is actually a strategy game of risk mitigation, where the fewer dice you roll the better, and models are moved/positioned more like chess pieces often so that your opponent is forced to make more dice rolls (and risk failing those dice rolls).

The key concept is the Turnover rule (introduced in the 3rd edition of the game in the early 90's, and the game has not changed that much since then). Any failed dice roll action results in your turn ending (though there are "team rerolls" that you may purchase for your team and some player skills that allow a reroll). As an example, if you decide the first move of your turn is to move a player to pick up the ball, and you fail the ball pickup dice roll (depending on your player's agility score, but often a 3+ on a D6), your turn ends. That's it. The other 10 models on your team do not get to move or perform an action; they stay where they were at the end of your last turn. There are only 8 turns in each half so causing a turnover can leave your team in a very bad situation. Once you learn this concept, you start to realize that you should perform non-risky moves first (ex. simply moving a player who is not in another player's tackle zone does not require a dice roll) and more risky moves later in your turn (ex. dodging out of a tackle zone, rushing to pick up the ball, and passing the ball to another model would be a higher-risk play for the active model requiring multiple dice rolls).

If you still have any interest in the game I suggest giving it another chance. In my opinion it is still GW's best game and lends itself very well to solo, league, and competitive/tournament play. Low model count means less time and money purchasing and painting your team, and more time playing a really fun game.

It really is a great game when played between two friends. I recently bought the BB2 full edition for cheap on PC (I'm not a big gamer these days, maybe play a game every year or two) and had a lot of fun for a couple of weeks, but it eventually got very stale after playing it every day for a couple of weeks. Every game tended to play out in the same way when you play it optimally, as you're described. Having said that, I only played vs the computer. Still, one of my favourite games from back in the day.

JWBS wrote:
It really is a great game when played between two friends. I recently bought the BB2 full edition for cheap on PC (I'm not a big gamer these days, maybe play a game every year or two) and had a lot of fun for a couple of weeks, but it eventually got very stale after playing it every day for a couple of weeks. Every game tended to play out in the same way when you play it optimally, as you're described. Having said that, I only played vs the computer. Still, one of my favourite games from back in the day.

I too used to play against the computer AI a lot after moving residences, before eventually finding some local players. The difference is night and day regarding AI vs. human players. Games are significantly different, for the better, when playing against live human players, and I have a hard time going back to playing the PC game against the AI these days (I'd rather play the tabletop game myself, playing both sides). I'd suggest picking up the "Second Season" current GW box set as it is a fantastic starter set that includes the official rulebook (only one book really needed in Blood Bowl), two complete teams with star players and referee models, pitch, dugouts, range ruler, and dice. Everything you need to play Blood Bowl in one box. This is one "starter" box set that GW got right.

Yeah, for a start, AI players aren’t capable of deciding that their objective this game is to get in at least one foul per turn and damn the scoreline. For example.

Scoreline?

Wot's dat?

BB2 isn't even worth playing against the AI if you ask me, whenever I boot that up I just get a random matchup in the champion ladder or open ladder. The game has been out a while so the matchmaking times are questionable depending on the time of day.

Funny enough i've found BB to be one of the simpler and easier to understand of GWs games, whereas I look at 40k as being nigh impenetrable, unstable and too difficult to keep up with.

 Thargrim wrote:
BB2 isn't even worth playing against the AI if you ask me, whenever I boot that up I just get a random matchup in the champion ladder or open ladder. The game has been out a while so the matchmaking times are questionable depending on the time of day.

Funny enough i've found BB to be one of the simpler and easier to understand of GWs games, whereas I look at 40k as being nigh impenetrable, unstable and too difficult to keep up with.

Amen

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
Man I wish Blood Bowl appealed to me as a game. The models they’re putting out, whilst infrequent, are incredibly characterful, and not exactly bound by GW’s usual design ethos.

I’ve nowt against it or anything. I’ve just never got my head around how to actually play the game.

I know you're in the UK, but if you get a way to get a copy of Blitz Bowl, its a pretty compelling experience. I cant stand Blood Bowl myself. Ive tried for years to get into it, and spending 3 hours to play a football game isnt my idea of enthralling. Blitz Bowl however only take a half hour to play. Its obviously a much lighter experience, but it's the weight I am looking for in such a game I otherwise had no intention of ever collecting. And here I am collecting half a box of each team...

 Wiz Warrior wrote:

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
Man I wish Blood Bowl appealed to me as a game. The models they’re putting out, whilst infrequent, are incredibly characterful, and not exactly bound by GW’s usual design ethos.

I’ve nowt against it or anything. I’ve just never got my head around how to actually play the game.

I know you're in the UK, but if you get a way to get a copy of Blitz Bowl, its a pretty compelling experience. I cant stand Blood Bowl myself. Ive tried for years to get into it, and spending 3 hours to play a football game isnt my idea of enthralling. Blitz Bowl however only take a half hour to play. Its obviously a much lighter experience, but it's the weight I am looking for in such a game I otherwise had no intention of ever collecting. And here I am collecting half a box of each team...

Blood Bowl doesn't regularly take three hours to play (it absolutely can, especially for brand new players but it's not the norm). Usually about half that time in my experience for an average game.

 Wiz Warrior wrote:

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
Man I wish Blood Bowl appealed to me as a game. The models they’re putting out, whilst infrequent, are incredibly characterful, and not exactly bound by GW’s usual design ethos.

I’ve nowt against it or anything. I’ve just never got my head around how to actually play the game.

I know you're in the UK, but if you get a way to get a copy of Blitz Bowl, its a pretty compelling experience. I cant stand Blood Bowl myself. Ive tried for years to get into it, and spending 3 hours to play a football game isnt my idea of enthralling. Blitz Bowl however only take a half hour to play. Its obviously a much lighter experience, but it's the weight I am looking for in such a game I otherwise had no intention of ever collecting. And here I am collecting half a box of each team...

So are the rules for blitz bowl significantly different? I always assumed they were kind of similar.

Blitz bowl isn't really a thing in Australia.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

JimmyWolf87 wrote:

 Wiz Warrior wrote:

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
Man I wish Blood Bowl appealed to me as a game. The models they’re putting out, whilst infrequent, are incredibly characterful, and not exactly bound by GW’s usual design ethos.

I’ve nowt against it or anything. I’ve just never got my head around how to actually play the game.

I know you're in the UK, but if you get a way to get a copy of Blitz Bowl, its a pretty compelling experience. I cant stand Blood Bowl myself. Ive tried for years to get into it, and spending 3 hours to play a football game isnt my idea of enthralling. Blitz Bowl however only take a half hour to play. Its obviously a much lighter experience, but it's the weight I am looking for in such a game I otherwise had no intention of ever collecting. And here I am collecting half a box of each team...

Blood Bowl doesn't regularly take three hours to play (it absolutely can, especially for brand new players but it's not the norm). Usually about half that time in my experience for an average game.

A game on computer would generally be an hour for me.

I haven't timed playing the table top version, and frankly I've barely played any of the table top version, but it tends to go a bit slower because the video game shows you how far you can move and unit stats and how many dice you'll get if you make a blitz and so on... all that means you can make decisions much faster because you can quickly see the outcome and weigh the options.

AllSeeingSkink wrote:

 Wiz Warrior wrote:

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
Man I wish Blood Bowl appealed to me as a game. The models they’re putting out, whilst infrequent, are incredibly characterful, and not exactly bound by GW’s usual design ethos.

I’ve nowt against it or anything. I’ve just never got my head around how to actually play the game.

I know you're in the UK, but if you get a way to get a copy of Blitz Bowl, its a pretty compelling experience. I cant stand Blood Bowl myself. Ive tried for years to get into it, and spending 3 hours to play a football game isnt my idea of enthralling. Blitz Bowl however only take a half hour to play. Its obviously a much lighter experience, but it's the weight I am looking for in such a game I otherwise had no intention of ever collecting. And here I am collecting half a box of each team...

So are the rules for blitz bowl significantly different? I always assumed they were kind of similar.

Blitz bowl isn't really a thing in Australia.

Blitz Bowl is completely different, mechanically. The theme, setting, and miniatures are the same but the game itself is built around completing semi-random objectives drawn from a card deck using limited actions that can be spread across the team or applied to one player. Players only have three stats to interact with the environment and each other, and the pitch is quite small and contains obstacles. It certainly looks interesting from the videos I’ve seen but it is very different to core BB or Sevens, or even Dungeon Bowl.