Topic: Blood Bowl ... Mid Atlantic Cup vs Wiss!

[Siberius]

I've always wanted Blood Bowl, ever since I knew it existed, but now, a combination of a newfound appreciation of American Football and the idea of a smallish self containted game is making me all the more determined...

But I have a few questions.

It seems GW are selling it on their site for $80ish. Not too bad when you compare to many boardgames retailing at $50. How long has the edition they have up there been out? I thought they were kinda moving away from the specialist games. Anyone know their stance right now? Is it a case of selling them and the minis with no plans to update or release new stuff?

Is this the best edition of BB? Would I be better off getting one of the earlier ones if such a thing was possible? I thought at one stage they had put the rules up on the specialist site, but maybe that was just Mordheim and Necro.

OK, that's it off the top of my head. Well, except to ask does it play well? Are there viable alternative ways to try and make plays etc or does it just come down to such and such always works best so you just end up playing the same play every time?

[Cannonofdoom]

Excellent.

Alright, the box they sell for $80 comes with a board, a basic orc and a basic human team, all of the dice you need, and all of the templates required. It comes with rules, but they are not the most up to date version. Here is a PDF version of the most updated rules (the ones used in the computer game) http://www.games-workshop.com/MEDIA_CustomProductCatalog/m1310002_BB_Complete_Blood_Bowl_Rulebook.pdf

One of the best ways to learn the game is to play with an experienced player. I would be happy to teach you

If you can get hold of the PC game that's also an okay way to learn using the built in tutorial.

The earlier editions of blood bowl are very hard to find, and usually fairly expensive. The models in the old versions are also not as good as the ones in this box. It's also a blast to convert teams for yourself. I often do this when I want to play a new team.

As for how it plays: There is not a single correct way to win. It is a game of chess in some ways, with the randomness of dice, and skills.

[Cannonofdoom]

Also, they released a new metal human team and Ogre team as early as just a few years ago, and they have updated some of the star players, like the Mighty Zug, Griff Oberwald, and Varag Ghoul Chewer.

If you want a different slant on many of these teams a good place to look is: http://www.impactminiatures.com/index.php?option=home

[Finlay]

I made a norse team out of a box of marauders, and 2 nazi dog people from the weird world war 2 zombie game which I can't remember what it is called.

Skaven and wood elf teams are good.

But you shouldnt play it as small and self contained, you need to do leagues so people can gain experience and skills.

[Cannonofdoom]

I made a norse team out of a box of marauders, and 2 nazi dog people from the weird world war 2 zombie game which I can't remember what it is called.

Skaven and wood elf teams are good.

But you shouldnt play it as small and self contained, you need to do leagues so people can gain experience and skills.

I have a single friend who loves the game as much as I. We play our own little league just between the two of us, because we both have at least four teams each. I have: Humans, Halflings, Orcs, Elves, and Chaos. He has Goblins, Orcs, Skaven, High Elves, Chaos, and we're going to build him an Ogre team out of fantasy bulls.

[Siberius]

Griff is my all time hero, just for the record 

Thanks for all the info thus far. I am intrigued.. with the rules being downloadable could one potentially build your own pitch and templates and not buy the boxset? (Money is tight!)

[Cannonofdoom]

Griff is my all time hero, just for the record 

Thanks for all the info thus far. I am intrigued.. with the rules being downloadable could one potentially build your own pitch and templates and not buy the boxset? (Money is tight!)

Building your own pitch is not too difficult. You can also build your own turn marker, re-roll counter, and scoreboard. The templates are not REALLY necessary, though they help a lot. The pass template would be the most difficult to replicate, but there is a diagram in the rules to help you simply count spaces rather than needing to use the template. You can use normal dice instead of the provided dice.
1=Attacker Down
2=Both Down
3&4=Defender Pushed
5=Defender Stumbles
6= Defender Down

It's really nice to have all that stuff, but it's not needed.

You will also need roster sheets and match record sheets if you plan on participating in a league.

[Finlay]

We found this site where someone had made pitch stuff for you to DL, print off, and stick to cardboard to use.

I'll dig it out tomorrow and let you know. Now, it's bed time.

[phillyt]

I would get the video game.  Same game without all the modeling struggles!

[Cannonofdoom]

I would get the video game.  Same game without all the modeling struggles!

Ummm. You just gave a reason NOT to get the video game.

I love the PC game, but if given the choice, I would play the board game every time.

[phillyt]

Bah!  Too many models laying around.  I have no need to get into another model game!

[Timbor]

We should start up the PC game league again, just so I can kill CoD's norse team again 

[Cannonofdoom]

We should start up the PC game league again, just so I can kill CoD's norse team again 

We should make it a non-schedule league so you can just play anyone who is online, and have multiple teams. Make me a league admin, and I can help. I'm on the game a LOT.

[Delthos]

Unless you build your pitch to the same size as the one that comes with the game, with the same size crosshairs, you can't really use the passing template. You've got to use the square counting method in the latest Living Rulebook version. If you were using 1 1/2" squares to accomodate Big Guys, your Short Passes using the counting method could end up being long bombs using the template. It's the only template that would be really required if you didn't have the square counting method in the rules. The only thing I'd say are really necessary is the dice. It can really be cumborsome to remember what the regular d6 translates to. Fortunately you can get some unofficial versions on eBay. You'll just pay more than they are really worth, but as GW doesn't sell them separately, it's really the only way to get them short of buying the boxed set.

I don't remember the link right now, but there is a sight out there that hosts all of the Specialist Games articles that were available for the game. The GW site only has a small portion of those that were available.

I agree on the League recommendation. It's much more fun that way, you just have to make sure you get a good group of people to play. Lest you end up with a League game between two friends with a Dwarf and a Skaven team played at home where nobody could witness it. The results being the Dwarves win 5 to 3.  Just for your information, it's very difficult for Dwarves to score like that, if not downright impossible. The must have thought the organizer was some kind of idiot to not know what really happened.

Anyway, it's a good game. I just recently picked up a copy of it again as I had sold my previous copy when I just got completely disgusted with about half the people that played in the two store leagues I played in. I wish I hadn't sold it as I didn't get much for it and now I've ended up buying it again. It's one of those sales I knew I'd regret. Now I need to pick up some more teams and round out the teams I have. I've got plans to build my own pitch, but who knows when I'll ever get around to building it. I know it's not necessary, but I had Deathzone and some of the other magazines. I really wish I hadn't sold it...

[Cannonofdoom]

I'm going to be building a custom pitch with the same size squares as the official board; I'll post pictures. Eventually.

[Sig]

How convertible fluff wise to the 40k universe is it? I'd love to do up a pitch with rowdy ork hooligans throwing stikkbombs instead of flares.

[Siberius]

Think i would definitely want to build my own pitch even if i got the box. I may have to pm someone sometime to see if they can give me some good exact measurements...

[Cannonofdoom]

How convertible fluff wise to the 40k universe is it? I'd love to do up a pitch with rowdy ork hooligans throwing stikkbombs instead of flares.

It's set in the Warhammer Fantasy world. Blood Bowl is basically an alternate reality of WHFB where playing bloodbowl distracts the masses and satisfies the bloodlust that would otherwise lead to war. It's not very compatible with 40k, though using 40k models as a base for your Orcs or Dark Elves is not a bad idea.

Think i would definitely want to build my own pitch even if i got the box. I may have to pm someone sometime to see if they can give me some good exact measurements...

I can get you the measurements.

[Shadowlord]

There a strong rumours of a new BB game next year.

[Sig]

It's set in the Warhammer Fantasy world. Blood Bowl is basically an alternate reality of WHFB where playing bloodbowl distracts the masses and satisfies the bloodlust that would otherwise lead to war. It's not very compatible with 40k, though using 40k models as a base for your Orcs or Dark Elves is not a bad idea.

Oh, I know what Blood Bowl is, when I started playing GW games they still had copies on the shelves in the stores Cheers though, I know I was vague.

I was just wondering, if you substituted the fluff from fantasy with 40k, would you be able to reasonably take the rules over unchanged? See I could totally see a backwater planet where the local corrupt governor runs a "blood bowl" allowing Eldar Corsairs, Ork Freebooters, renegade marines (Chaos?) and other strange aliens (skaven, lizardmen). A lot of the races are analogous between the two systems after all.

What I guess I was really asking was how specifically "fantasy" are the rules - is there a lot of magic and so on, and would there be a way to represent power armour? I'd still love to give a stadium with Ork spectators a go.

[Cannonofdoom]

You don't buy equipment for your models, so I suppose it could translate pretty cleanly to a 40k universe. You are able to purchase the assistance of a wizard, but you can simply deny that, or change it to a grenade or something.

[Wolfgang aus Wien]

Blood Bowl is one of my favorite games of all time!
One of the great things about nit is that you don't need a whole mess of models to get started, 11 players and a coach gets you in the door, a team of around 20 or so minis is already pretty substantial.
The box (which used to cost $ 40) is 3rd edition, which is as far as BB ever got, anything beyond that were 'update' downloads, Journal articles and house rules on the web.
GW still sells (most) of the teams, and you should be able to find them online various places.
Failing that, converting minis for BB isn't hard, just cut off the weapons, do perhaps a little bit of surgery on the rest - hey presto, a Dwarf Blocker!
It isn't, however, in any way similar to American Football, the game mechanics are much more closely related to Rugby or Soccer.

[wissenlander]

Let me know if you do plan on getting into this, Siberius.  We could get in some games and start a Mid Atlantic League or something.  Maybe even get our own team buses or charter planes! 

I have a box of militia that I could potentially use as a team, or maybe at some point I'd just drop money on a team I like since it's self contained and such.  Who knows, I may even be able to paint the whole thing myself...

[Perambulator]

The Board Game is a lot of fun - just played it this past weekend.

[Delthos]

I don't see any reason you couldn't move Bloodbowl into the 40K universe without any problems. Almost every 40K race has a fantasy equivalent which would work just fine. A Team Wizard would just become a Team Psyker, and so on. Humans/IG would be humans, Eldar would be High Elves or Professional Elves, Dark Eldar would be Dark Elves, Orks would be Orcs, and so on. You may have to come up with some new stats for some armies, like the Necrons. While Tomb Kings would seem like a good fit a first glance, their rules just don't work for the Necrons. Space Marines may need some work too.

Overall I think it would fit in very well. Some teams would be a bit harder to explain, but if you went with the alternate world setting that BloodBowl uses, it's not technically set in the Warhammer Old World, but a different version of it, you could do the same with the 40K universe to make it work. I think it would be very refreshing to see some 40K races done up as Bloodbowl teams.