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Finally loaded Blood Bowl onto my PC this week and while it is not as polished as I would like I am cracking on [with an orc team of all things!] and absolutely loving it. However I have one major snag, I suck bigtime at playing Blood Bowl it seems!

I used to play the 1st edition and even used the rules for dungeon bashes and assumed [oh dear!] that I might pick it right up again, but sadly not. I have done the most of tutorials, but not all as a couple of them log the game off for some reason, including the turn based basic play tute.

I couldn't score a TD from a square out if the opposition were on fire!

Help me Dakka you are my only hope!

Never played the tabletop version, but i am loving the psp version, the PC one looks like it has more stuff in it =(

I am currently playing skaven, and what I have learnt:
-The strong blitz or Zulu positons are good for both defence and offence.
-Pick a side, use your linemen and make a runway.
-Dont be afraid to go for the long throw, or to use rerolls to launch or catch.
-Dont take on 2 enemies with one guy, get a second guy in before tackling.
-Dont risk fouling if you can go for the bowl [except when you have bribed the ref =)]
-Dont be afraid to run back into your half to line someone up for a hail marry or to pass off.
-Mercs suck [usually, unless they are big]
-Stumble = injuries
-Block > both down
-Wrestle is a life saver

Thats about all that comes to mind at the moment, will add more when I am playing or think of it.

Thanks for the tips. Not being able to do the basic tutorial is really upping the learning curve.

Managed to get a few of them into a match against the Grudgebearers for a 0-0 draw with a failed hail mary pass for the win in the last turn. Damm Black orc couldn't catch, what a suprise! However my best result!

Got taken apart by Dark Elves 3-0 the match afterwards though, they seem to be able to skip through any blockers or defence that I constructed, they were 2 up in the first half! I then reverted to type after that though and Dremlocks Dodgers spent the second half fouling and generally dishing out the rough stuff. I couldn'y hang on to the ball and never got the opportunity to pass it up field but did cause Nerve Damage to a Witch Elf and deaded a linesman. This garnered me my first level up for a player, a Black Orc now has wrestle.

Obviously all tips/help is welcome and I think that I am improving, so what I would really like to know is how to get those all important SPPs? I have only received 5 per game for my MVP, are they not given for anything else? The manual is unclear to me?

Thanks in advance.

notprop

Unable to do tutorial? It should be there...mm

Just a few quick question to help me understand:
-What difficulty are you on?
-What set up do you use? (eg. strong blitz, zulu, weak side, etc)
-How do you try and score touch downs?
-How many rerolls do you have and what do you use them on?

About SSP points:
-They are earned when you: Score a touchdown [+3 SPP], injuring a player [+2 SPP], making a perfect launch [+1 SPP] and making an intercept [+1 SPP (?)].

Each player starts at lvl 1, and they require 6 SPP at go to the next lvl [2 touchdowns or 3 player injuries to the opponent, etc]. lvl 3 requires 16 SPP (starting at 6 from lvl 1) and then 32 for lvl 4, etc.

The best way to get SPP is touchdowns and defender stumble (more likely to cause an opponent to get an injury)

Hope that helps abit.

You should check out some of the great BB fan sites.....



Oh wait GW closed them all down last month...

Thanks for the posts fellas.

@Clthomps:- Irony aside, I'm pleased to report that there are still plenty of BB site up and running. I had a gander at Blood Bowl PlayBook [www.bbpb.de] and they had some very helpful articles devoted to all races. It should be said that this was a site for the boardgame version, but hey whats the differance!

@Squig_herder :- Thanks again for the tips it has really helped me get a better feel for the game.

Re the tutorials, it just seems to be either a glitch in the install or a clash with my system. Whenever I have tried to run the basic tutorials it has closed down the game with warning.

I'm on medium difficulty (no point going soft and using easy, its BloodBowl after all!).

I used the zulu set up ala your suggestion. Wortked well.

Originally tried to play a combination running/passing game, thinking I could use my Black Orcs to make some room to run or pass through. I have changed tack a little bit, following reading BB Paybook I used a tactic called Da Cage. Basically win toss, collect ball, form cage of biltzers/BOs around thrower, steam roller up pitch, either run in TD or short pass to gobbo for the score.

No re-rolls, I failed to recognise the importance when buying my original team, I have rectified this, but only have 1!

However more progress has been made. Played the Dark Elves again last night using the tactics above. I went 1-0 up in turn 7 after slowly grinding down the field, I could have scored allot earlier but thought caution was the better part of valour and just kept it steady, dishing out beats as I went. Second half I kicked long, chasing down with a gobbo, linesman and a blitzer [they were down to about 9 players so I could afford to send them down the pitch] but other wise holding the zulu set up just in case and dishing out moar beats. DE's fumbled the ball blitzer clears out DE and linesman swoops in for the score! 2-0 game over!

I'm definitely starting to get the game and think i'm trying to use a little more panashe that Orcs would usually display, but I'm slowly getting there.

What do you think of money spent of cheerleaders and how does this affect/work with fan factor?

Sorry I'm sure all of this is readily available in the Living rule book but I would really like to find out how da players see things!

About cheerleaders, they are so important IMO. You'll use them almost every kick-off. When starting out, your fan factor is very low and having about 5-7 chearleaders will win you a re-roll or reposition, it's very handy, I always try and get 10 as fast as possible, winning an extra re-roll is vital and also helps to not get rocks thrown at you.

Also, if you get the option, Leader is a good, skill, as long as the player is on the field, your side gets an extra re-roll.

I'll have to try this tomorrow as I am training for the real thing tonight (Rugby U), but I'll keep an eye out for the leader skill and I'll look at getting more cheerleaders as well. Only having 2 and no fan score I wasn't getting any luck with the kick off events.

Cheers.

My advice would be to try out an easier army to play. Namely, Forces of Chaos. They are, by far, one of the easiest and simplest teams to pick up and play. The reason is, they have 3 choices of players - Chaos Warrior, Minotaur (Which kicks serious arse) and their version of the Lineman. (Forgot what it was called) The only strategy they have is to FIGHT MOAR, and hopefully score a TD at some point. Chaos forces are absolutely amazing at stopping enemy TDs, since the basic Lineman has the Horns ability (+1 Strength when Blitzing...that can mean all the difference between rolling one die and two against an opponent).

And yes, you absolutely need to get up to 10 Cheerleaders as quickly as possible. Once you get those, then just start saving up to buy more rerolls. They are a necessity to winning games against harder teams, especially when you roll double 'Attacker Down' on your turn. Also, look into taking the Block ability for all of your players. 'Both Down' seems to come up frequently enough that it's the first skill I buy for all of my players.

One more thing, if you do pick Chaos as a team, try to use the 'More Fight' formation, regardless of Offense or Defense (In their case, it's pretty much always Offense whether they have the ball or not). This is a great arrangement to use, because it quickly puts all of your key players on the frontlines (Which, in the case of Chaos, is everyone) and allows you to start taking down opponents on the first turn. And with Chaos, try not to rely too heavily on the Minotaur, tempting as it may be. Even with rerolls, he will always roll poorly on Wild Animal just when you need it, so try to use your Linemen and Chaos Warriors whenever possible.

Just my two cents. Best of luck to you, and welcome to one of my favorite games of all time

Over 60% of my touchdowns are made by the same Goblin every time. The rest is just there to beat the crap out of the opposition.

Anung Un Rama wrote:Over 60% of my touchdowns are made by the same Goblin every time. The rest is just there to beat the crap out of the opposition.

You beat me to it but I also play Orcs and I sprint one goblin to "go long" as it were. The rest tie up the opposition and I pass. It works more often than not. As my team got better experienced and I built up my Goblin, Thrower and rest of team, the TDs are even more frequent.

Also, don't be afraid to hold a player or two at the halfway point and middle of own territory. Essential when your opponent pulls the same stunt on you (the deep ball or occasional breakaway run).

I also find constant adjustment with every player leads to greater success. If they have the ball and are moving right, don't send the mob after him, send the closest and surround, cut-off with the rest. This has been huge for me as well.

Thanks again fellas.

I've really been banging the oppo about since my last post and won the first tournament despite my initial poor start. I was feeling really chuffed about my progress but then noticed I had actually been playing on Easy! Arrrgh! Time to start again me thinks, shame my Black Orc and Gobbo Star Players were really coming along nicely!

I will now see if my new found talent is as relevent when I start a new team on Medium difficulty tonight.

I did try a Human team in a one off game [medium] and got whipped so heres hoping that I can do better with Orcs. [not sure about Chaos, it just doesn't feel right, i'm too pure of heart I guess?!]

I have afew things to add:

1) My Number One bit of advice. When you do not have the ball, BE PATIENT. You do not have to get the ball from them, you just have to prevent them scoring long enough to make them make a mistake and give it to you. If you see a cast-iron, stone cold certain block that is almost certain to result in getting the ball, great. But don't take risks and leave scoring routes open if you only have a 50/50 chance of getting the ball.

2) You do not need or want Cheerleaders. They add to your Team Value, which decreases your Incentives, or adds to the Opposition's, and they are only useful in minor ways in very few situations.

3) If you play as a bashy team (Dwarf, Orc, Chaos, some human and some lizardman teams), try and end your turn in contact with as many opposition players as possible, forcing the opposition to make unfavourable blocks or to try and dodge away from you. If you play as Chaos, then Tentacles on yoru Chaos Warriors is amazing.

4) If you play as a lightweight team (Elves, Skaven, some human and lizardmen teams) try to disengage from all opposition players so that they have to use a blitz to target even one of your players.

5) If you are playing against agile, fast teams (elves, skaven) make sure that you put multiple tackle zones along any route that the ball carriers might try to take and defend deep. Make sure there is multiple pressure on any potential ball carrier to prevent catches or dodges.

6) If playing against quite slow teams (Dwarves, most Orc teams), defend close to the opposition, Don't worry about them making a breakaway to the End Zone, as they are so slow you'll be able to put players between them and the End Zone anyway.

7) A single player roaming around the enemy backfield looking menacing is unlikely to get the ball for you, but simply having him there will make the opposition commit players (normally better players, or multiple players) to dealing with him. This prevents those same players creating openings to the End Zone past your other 10 players.

8) Do the things that can't fail, like standing up players, moving players into defensive positions first. THEN do the most important things, like crucial blocks and dodges. THEN do the bonus things, like fouls or speculative blitzes on vulnerable star players or the ball carrier.

9) My last bit of advice: When you have the ball, BE PATIENT. You don't have to score this turn. Next turn is almost as good, sometimes even better. Better to have a 90% chance of scoring next turn than 50% this turn. Make sure the ball carrier is safe, then take your chance next time. Remember, if you have the ball, the opposition cannot score, so KEEPING the ball is more important than scoring with it. This can even extend to deliberately hanging around near the End Zone with the ball to wind down the number of turns left and take away the time your opponent will be using to try and score an equalizer.

These are my philosophies, and they are winning ones. There are other winning styles, but they do not suit my temperament. I tend to win narrowly or draw. I rarely win big and occasionally lose. Other people prefer to normally win big or lose, but draw few. Make your choice about how you will have most fun. I play Blood Bowl like a game of chess, others play it like a game of poker, others play it like Duke Nuke 'Em. Just have fun.

Oh, and go to www.ukbbl.co.uk and sign up.

Fifty wrote:9) My last bit of advice: When you have the ball, BE PATIENT. You don't have to score this turn. Next turn is almost as good, sometimes even better. Better to have a 90% chance of scoring next turn than 50% this turn. Make sure the ball carrier is safe, then take your chance next time. Remember, if you have the ball, the opposition cannot score, so KEEPING the ball is more important than scoring with it. This can even extend to deliberately hanging around near the End Zone with the ball to wind down the number of turns left and take away the time your opponent will be using to try and score an equalizer.

I will say this: keep an eye on the turn indicator. If the score is 1-1 on the 16th turn and you've got a player who needs to roll dice to get into the endzone (Whether by running through tackle zones or just being too far away) then take the shot. What do you have to lose? Heck, even if the player gets injured, very rarely do they get one of the less appealing injuries (Like dead). Throughout four tournaments playing as arguably the beefiest team (Chaos) I've seen exactly two players get a 'dead' result - one on the dwarfs, and one on the gobbos. Incidentally, their stumpy special rule (Or w/e it's called) is hilarious when playing as Chaos...I think the last couple of rounds were me with 11 players, him with 4 on the field.

Well, yeah, keep an eye on the turn indicator, but you get the end of match imminent warning anyway.

A) You do raise another good point though - if the enemy... I mean opposition has no players left, they can neither score, nor prevent you doing so. My Orc team basically sets about systematically removing every good player fromthe opposition team fromthe pitch, followed by all the rest of their players too. I once managed to remove every single skaven player from the pitch, though I needed a 9-man foul to finally get rid of the Rat Ogre.

B) Apart from actually killing/injuring/KOing all players from the pitch, you can still "take them out of play" if you are using squishier teams. When I use my elf team, I take great delight in drawing the opposition one way, then using my high speeds and high agilities to swtich the game to the other flank or move quickly downfield beyond range of any blitzers. Just one or two carefully positioned players can make it impossible to reach your ball carrier with a blitzer if he as at the limit of the opposition's movement anyway.

C) Finally, a point about levelling up players... You can choose tomake players better at what they are already good at, or better at what they are bad at. The ultimate example is probably a Gutter Runner. Would you choose +1 MA or +1 Armour? Block, or Leap? I'd take the armour and block, personally. (Str is a no brainer, of course, and except for Big Guys, Agility normally is too...)

My goal in playing against the computer is to level up my team so I have a better team when I play against my roommate.

I play elves, here is what I have learned so far:

When on defense I just get out of the way. Getting my players killed is no good. Most of the teams form a barrier around the ball carrier and advance down the field. Slowing them down is possible, but popping the ball out is difficult and rarely worth the effort. The sooner they score, the quicker I get to be on offense. I figure out which side they are going down and put my team in a brick formation on the other side. If they opposition sens over a player to attack us, we group curb-stomp him. Twice.

On offense a have two 3-pack groups of 2 catchers and a war dancer 3 spaces from the line. This way they can only attack one on their first turn. Tree in the center and the linemen pulled into the tree if the opposition is lined up to attack them, or on the inside corners if they are unblocked.

When I receive the kick, I have the the lower level thrower pick-up the ball, run and then throw it to the higher level thrower. Then that thrower runs back to center 3 or 4 spaces from the endzone, out of range of the opposition. Then I move the 2 linemen back to where the catchers and war dancers are. And then I end my turn and let the opposition make their moves and open up lanes to run my catchers down.

I prefer Skaven.
Get the ball to the gutter runner and run a screen of line rats for him.
I beat a fellow dakkite at one point... I did lose 3 rats to his orcs though... killed his black orc though

 Squig_herder wrote:
About cheerleaders, they are so important IMO.

They are ok in single player when you have so much money you don't know how to spend it but steer well away from them (and assistant coaches) in multiplayer as they add to your team value and you want that to be as low as possible.

Orcs are probably one of the best teams due to their flexibility and almost universal AV of 9 but they have a rocky start due to the lack of skills on most of your players. Once your Black Orcs and linemen (and if your lucky your troll) start getting block and your blitzers start getting tackle things will really pick up. As has been said Orcs are very much a bash team but a goblin and a thrower allow you to make some fairly safe passing plays, especially after a few skill ups.

As Orcs are a bash team you will also want to start getting guard into your line of scrimage, its generally the first skill that I give to a troll unless I get really lucky and get block.

I use certain skill combinations for my Orcs.
Black Orcs get block, guard and then mighty blow and/or standfirm this makes your line very resilient and will stop most players dead in the centre.
My blitzers get tackle, mighty blow, shadowing and/or stripball which allows you to murder the ball carrier and sort of counter the always annoying elf teams.
My linemen get block, guard and tackle (I only run a couple of linemen), these are generic players who are useful in support roles.
The troll gets guard, standfirm and maybe juggernaught but there aren't really any other good skills for him aside from block (if you roll a double always take block). If you don't have block only use him to make a block as the last action of your turn or if you don;'t mind suffering a turnover as he is extremely unreliable and re-rolls only have a 50% chance of working, he is there to help out your BOs and look threatening.
My thrower gets accurate, kick and block. Nothing fancy, he basically guards the backfield and adds an element of passing play
My goblin (who scores nearly all my touchdowns) gets catch, diving catch and sure feet. He is there to catch the ball and run for it once the opposition are mostly facedown and bleeding. you can try getting the troll to throw him but most of the time it goes tits up and its more of a desperation move.

In general never leave any opposing players outside of a tackle zone if they are in any kind of threatening position, block opposing players approach to your ball carrier, try and form a cage around the ball carrier, always try and push opposing players off the pitch and batter anything that comes within reach. Don't be afraid to put Orcs in harms way if you need to as their AV 9 will usually save them from real harm. One other thing is don't be afraid to make a 2 dice block in the opponents favour if you need to, provided that you have block and he doesn't, you still have a decent chance of winning.

At the end of the day Bloodbowl is less about sheer violence (although it certainly has its place) and more about positioning and a bit of luck.

I'm pretty terrible at the game, I mostly play drunk but my advice if starting off an orc team in mutiplayer is try to score with the black orcs in your first few games. Handing off has a reasonable chance of success with a reroll and gets you halfway to the block skill (which makes your blocking so much easier in later games).

So cage up get to the end zone hand off to a black orc and score ...simple really

Power rush can work. It's also a fairly hard counter to smaller less tackly teams like skaven.
It's not gonna work against some of the heavier teams though.

 purplefood wrote:
I prefer Skaven.
Get the ball to the gutter runner and run a screen of line rats for him.
I beat a fellow dakkite at one point... I did lose 3 rats to his orcs though... killed his black orc though

You luck git... still don't know how that black orc died to a rat....

Having actually played BloodBowl with an Orc team I can offer some tips too.

1) Your team choice should play to your style. If you want a pass play you'll need a dedicated thrower and a catcher. Whether you want some Linemen to do this or an Orc Thrower and Goblin Catcher is up to you. The latter are squishier with the skills pre-baked; the Linemen need training.
2) GET BLOCK. EVERYWHERE
3) If you get Black Orcs, get the max amount and use them to punch things. Lots of things. I mainly use mine as a front line assault on the scrimmage. Block and Guard are essential - follow up either Mighty Blow for easy points. Any that get strength you can use to your advantage by putting them up against Ogres and Trolls. Dauntless helps in that respect too.
4) Blitzers are highly mobile so use them for quick attacks. Block comes standard so throw them about a bit for good effect. I actually have turned all my Blitzers into dedicated rolls: a dedicated runner since he got +1 movement; a dedicated tackler who's job it is to smash face; a tag-team buddy to offer support on charges; and a Stand Firm Blitzer to lock down targets. I'd suggest pairing them up for better effect.
5) Linemen can be handy. You'll need Block for defence but after that you can go nuts. I've got a dedicated Kicker, Runner and Wrestler. So if you're gonna sue them, set them up for a role.
6) Trolls are temperamental. They need constant babysitting and usually get knocked over pretty quick in my experience. They aren't very reliable at punching things despite high strength, they don't have Block or Mighty Blow as standard either. But it does add a heavyweight to the field to counter bashy line-ups.

 Soladrin wrote:

 purplefood wrote:
I prefer Skaven.
Get the ball to the gutter runner and run a screen of line rats for him.
I beat a fellow dakkite at one point... I did lose 3 rats to his orcs though... killed his black orc though

You luck git... still don't know how that black orc died to a rat....

I paid for those touchdowns in dead rats...
A black orc is the least I can do to repay that

Some great advice on orcs for you.

When you start off buy 4 blitzer, 4 black orcs, 3 goblins. spend rest on rerolls (Believe this gets you 4).

In game one focus on your blitzers and black orcs with goblins giving assists and being expendable. (Get touchdowns on the blitzers and if luck out with a blackorc somehow picking up a ball them).

After game 1 sack the three goblins and save your cash or get apoth. You now gain 3 merc line orcs who you can put on the front line and never bother with unless they get star player points, which you then buy them.

Basically means for doing nothing you get 3 more AV 9 line meat who you can not care about as well as increasing the team value by 30k before any match 1 winnings / skils are included.

Really helped me kick off my team in a big way and meant thos emerc orcs were used to tie up big players or opponents leveled guys.

after 2-3 games you should be able to buy your own line orcs (Or any who have got SSP's while mercs) and begin leveling up a thrower as a runner (4 black orcs, 4 blitzers make real good cages and will begin to earn their own points from kills etc) with skills like block, side step, dodge, fend etc.