I, for one, am quite fond of the humans. I like their jack-of-all-trades feeling and their broad developement opportunities. But I think their real strength lies in shorter tournaments. In one-off games they will lose out against the teams that start with more skills and in the very long run they will lose to the “late-bloomers”.
Jarmo
1703
Ah, I didn’t know that! Thanks for the clarification, Kalle! This, of course, has a huge impact on the usability of the data in our short and perpetual leagues with permadeath and injuries. It seems the data is only indicative, then, not prescriptive.
Hunty
1704
I just bought the Legendary edition from the super-cheap Impulse sale (see Bargain thread). Exciting.
I have never played Blood Bowl in my life, though a spot of adolescent Games Workshopping means I am moderately familiar with the concept and know my way round a D6. Can anyone recommend me a decent way to get started and to a decent base level of competence? I was thinking dabble against the AI a bit, then jump into the Qt3 open league for a few games. Are there any resources worth checking out aside from the living rulebook and this behemoth of a thread?
Jarmo
1705
Jarmo
1706
Excellent plan, probably the best possible one lacking a live teacher sat next to you.
Alstein
1707
Finally picked this up myself. Hate the DRM, but only paying $10 is a decent enough penalty. Just hope I can get this on both my computers (I’m going to have a lot to install this weekend)
Now gotta figure out how I should learn this.
Other than bbtactics, this is a good plan. I would say that it depends on what you’re comfortable with, but jumping into multi with people that are unlikely to be internet idiots (ie asking for a teaching game) is the way to go ASAP. An hour or so on skype (it’s easier than typing through it for obvious reasons) and you’ll be able handle the fundamentals of the UI and the basic risk decisions that are the core of the game.
I think singleplayer would only build bad habits if you chose a team that is extreme in one direction (running, passing, bashing). For more balanced teams, I think the AI’s basic cage/countercage + unbelievable skill combos makes for a fun puzzle that won’t turn you into a strategic genius but yields many interesting encounters, and can give you at least a passing familiarity with all of the teams where you have time to think about their specific challenges without simply getting whomped by novelty. If you’re comfortable with multi as a main mode, by all means, stick with it. But I like switching around, and I’m still fond of messing with my TV2300 Lizard single player team.
JM1
1709
I could run a simple coaching class for our Euros I guess - I’m no expert but I can at least teach people the basics, having done it for a few friends already.
Martal
1710
With Blood Bowl on sale again and a friend getting it, I’m back to considering getting it myself. I’ve literally ALMOST bought it a couple of times, but I’ve always ended up backing out, fearing that I wouldn’t like. Can anyone give a few sentence pitch about why they keep coming back to it? I imagine it can be quite nerdy because it’s a lot of numbers and stats and things but I played Magic The Gathering and obsessed over deck building there. Should I make this my new time sink?
Kalle
1711
Blood Bowl is a brilliant mix of turn-based strategy, risk management and luck with fantasy violence flavor sprinkled on top. What really makes it great, and agonising to play, is that the game also forces you to gamble. You gamble when you try to pick up a ball. You gamble when you try to block an enemy player. You gamble when you want to move an extra square. Failing a single die roll means your turn is over so you do everything in your power to make it as safe as possible.
And on a lot of occasions failing a die roll can result in your own players getting hurt. These are players you’ve built up during the course of many games. Skilled, expensive, but every one of them could end up dead or permanently crippled if the dice go against you. And of course you have your opponent who is actively looking to hurt you as much as possible.
Every game you play your team is at stake. Pulling through with no casualties is often a victory, regardless of who won the game.
ShivaX
1712
Most start with TV 1000 teams iirc, which is where Amazons absolutely shine. Once you start hitting high TVs they go from the best team to one of the worst. Dwarves also can crush them early on and ruin the team, but anyone else is hard pressed to really do anything to them.
I second Kalle’s comment. Also it has occasional spells, catering to your MtG need. :)
It’s like a massive rogue-like strategy RPG. Every turn is like a puzzle to be solved, and every turn poses a real risk of losing some of what you’ve built up. It’s one of the few turnbased games that almost always gets my pulse up.
There’s a reason the original idea has survived for 24 years…
Blood Bowl is an unusually elegant turn based game, relatively simple, but with lots of depth and variety. A bit like chess, only with dice, rather more character, and individualized teams that you carry forward.
It doesn’t take too long to play, and is fairly easy to find someone competent to play against.
You get to fuck shit up
Smack the shit out of fuckers, you know?
Then they fuck you up and you’re, like, oh shit god damn
Plus tactics
vyshka
1716
If playing in windowed mode, is there some way to move that window around the screen or is it forever stuck in the upper left corner?
I think you’re pretty well stuck with it there, and often interacts strangely with other windows. If you have any intention of alt-tabbing it’s the way to go though, as alt-tabbing while in full screen risks crashing Blood Bowl.
Kildar
1718
What are the biggest differences between BB: Dark Elves and BB: Legendary Edition when it comes to Single Player? Do I get more heroes and a better campaign experience than in Dark Elves?
I tried the old edition at my friend’s computer and was disappointed at the limited selection of star players. Does Legendary Edition add anything to the single player experience?
Jarmo
1719
From the official game site: “more than the double of playable races, more stadiums, more star-players, more cheerleaders on fire”. You get a lot more variety, more stability (a LOT of bugs have been fixed and the effort is ongoing in Legendary Edition) and more single player challenge through better skill selections on AI players and campaign AI teams starting with a team value advantage (pretty much the same not-good AI, though).The campaign money management between tournaments is starting to make sense through patches.
Considering all of the above the Limited Edition is clearly better also in single player. It’s not a radical departure from the Dark Elves edition but it’s well worth the $10 at Impulse this weekend.
It did add some Star Players; I can’t recalll how many the original game had, but there are about 20 now. It also more than doubles the number of races in the game, adding 11 new races to the original 8 + Dark Elves. Also, a bunch of new stadiums, UI tweaks, a new single-player story mode. I think it’s definitely worth getting.
Also, because of some of the rules changes, I’m pretty sure that you need the Legendary Edition to play anyone else that has the Legendary Edition.
