The Obsidian Cup

[Raithe]

Just tried running a quick game from the story for a lunch break. Hm. Yeah, not sure i'm enjoying this. I can't actually do anything because they fumble on trying to pick up the ball, fall over if they run, fall over if they try tackling anyone, get ko'd if anyone tackles them, fail all attempts at passing..  The amount of "You rolled a 1 when you need 3 or higher. Do you want to re-roll?" "yes" "screw you, you still failed."

[melkathi]

I roll a lot of 1s as well. There are people shouting that its just the RNG and its just our perception that we think we are more unlucky than lucky, but I am not convinced.

 

What race did you try to play though? If you actually want to pass the ball (and pick it up) elf teams are a good bet. And witch elves and wardancers can even win a fight.

[Serrano]

Blood Bowl is largely a game of risk management, you need to do all your risk-free actions first, then your most important actions then your most desirable actions. You should always assume a task with any risk involved will fail, so picking up the ball for example, even high agility players with safe hands can mess up horribly, you can however put several players around the ball to greatly increase your odds of somebody being able to pick it up before the turnover when the first attempt fails. Blocks should only be attempted when you can use at least two dice, and you should plan your sequence so that you will on a successful block either push the enemy player into another square where he is being ganged up on or pushing him into another enemy player exposing someone else. Unless your player has the dodge skill or high agility (preferably both) you shouldn't try to run past a block zone unless you need to, likewise with 'go for it' and running beyond a players normal movement zone. Throwing if you have players with throw and catch is 'somewhat' safe at close range but you're always unlikely to be successful if you're sending it long. The best way I found to use the throw skill as wood elves was to combo it with physical hand-offs as you can do one of each per turn and get the ball a long way downfield. Aside from thinking about sequence so that you are more likely to be successful you also need to plan for what will happen if moves are unsuccessful and try to arrange formations so that there aren't going to be gaps and that you can adapt of they do get past the line ect. ect.

 

There are a couple of good Blood Bowl guides on the steam community that talk about specific teams and the game in general. Some teams are also much easier/harder for beginners than other as well. It's also worth finding the ability tables and the game rules in the manual, because Blood Bowl is a complicated board game and I think this is one game where learning the rules the old fashioned way may be more useful than a tutorial. 

 

Also keep in mind that rookie players in blood bowl are supposed to be useless, it's only when players start to level that they become good, barring the odd exception like wood elf war dancers. 

Edited September 10, 2013 by Serrano

[Raithe]

Well, so far with a brief playaround in general and some of the story games, I've played with Dark Elves, Dwarves, Halflings, and Goblins.

It just seems that I can barely do one action before there's a screwup that causes my turn to end and then the opposing team does half a dozen tackles, moves, passes without a problem. Gets back to me, I move a character, he falls down, turn ends. Opposing team does a whole bunch of moves, leaves half my team prone. I start my turn, take a step past an opponent, falls down, ends turn. Opposing team does a bunch of moves that all work perfectly. My turn, I make an attempt at tackling, my guy ends up with a big red x, and it's the end of my turn...

[Hurlshort]

Don't worry Raithe, when we play each other we can both fumble about like chickens with their heads cut off.  

[Spider]

As have been said, avoid rolling dice unnecessarily. Sometimes a player is better off doing nothing than taking an action rolling dice.

 

In your example you mention that the first model you move fails a dodge. Very rarely should you make a move requiring a dice roll the first thing you do, simply because the consequences for failure are so high. Also when moving, be aware of how many tackle zones there are in the square you're moving to, since that will affect your chance of success.

 

Basically never roll a 3+ roll without a reroll unless you absolutely have to, or can live with failing (as in it's the last model you move this turn, or all important risk free moves have been made already). 3+ with a skill reroll works often enough that you can take more risks with it, but always do the risk free maneuvers first.

 

And has been suggested, if you like dodging and passing a lot, then elf teams are a good choice. but then you're not winning many fights one-on-one, and instead need to use your superior maneuverability to get advantageous blocks, and getting your players away from opposing fighters.

 

Luck plays a factor int he game, but learning when and how to take risks plays a much bigger one.

[melkathi]

If only my Wardancer could mutate to have horns and claws...

[Hurlshort]

My first touchdown was a pretty fun one.  There was a fumble on the kickoff for the other team, so I had my ogre through a goblin into the offensive zone.  He picked up the ball, made one dodge, and was in the end zone.

[melkathi]

Sometimes the dice just work out like that

 

The Roastbeef Reavers latest match was one filled with every kind of luck.

I won the coin toss, chose to be recieving and got a free move during kick-off. That allowed one of my halflings to move into position to catch the ball, the halflings on the line of skrimage to move away from the enemy players and the treemen to cross the middle line. Perfect set-up to score a TD by turn 3. Turn 7 the opponent dropped the ball, so turn 8 the treemen open space for one halfling to dash in, grab the ball and dash out. He passes it to a waiting player in the opponent's half who makes a run for the end zone. He had to "go for it" one square. He fails the roll, stumbles, gets injured and is K.O. for the rest of the game...

Second half, the necromantic team tries a strong counter attack. They break through with four players facing one lone halfling. Three halflings manage to dodge away and go for it to help him. One more halfling runs up and blitzes the ghoul. Roll a single die: Defender Down. Even better, the ball bounces out of the field and gets thrown in. The throw in is right into the hands of my one completly free halfling in the opponents half. He catches the ball and runs to the end zone.

Kick-off and the event is Pitch Invasion. One zombie gets beaten up by the fans on the opposing side. My side seven players go down including both treemen. For two turns four halflings had to fend off ten necros. Three of them managed to doge their way to the enemy ball carrier, the fourth was tackled.

Amazing luck even in the moments when there was bad luck

 

But as the dwarf teams say: Seek fear to overcome it. Adversity to go beyond it. And the ball if you have nothing better to do.

[Walsingham]

Serrano and Spider are bang on about risk management. You have to use risk free moves to get yourself ready for the risky ones going wrong.

 

So, obviously you want to move everyone who doesn't need to dodge first.

 

Secondly, for the love of Nuffle, don't 'go for it' in a move unless you really ****ing have to. You will get ****ed, like the big rabbit.

 

Thirdly, only pass the ball by throwing if you have to, or if you don't mind dropping it. It's worth using passes to get SPPs and level your players, or just to look epic. But it's not intended to be used all the time.

 

Remember that the ball is covered in bloody spikes.

[melkathi]

 

Remember that the ball is covered in bloody spikes.

 

You'd think with those things it would get stuck on players' hands and not get dropped so often...

[melkathi]

So for the league we have:

 

Walsingham

Hurlshot

Serrano

Melkathi

 

Possibly:

Spider

Raithe (if you manage to like it enough)

Nepenthe (time constraints permiting)

 

Come the weekend I could set up a League. Six teams is a pretty decent first season.

I'd have to look at the types we can set up (Championship, cup, league, tournament, whatever) and we'd need to see what fits us best as well as work out the different details.

[Walsingham]

 

 

Remember that the ball is covered in bloody spikes.

 

You'd think with those things it would get stuck on players' hands and not get dropped so often...

 

 

But you will concede, also harder to throw.

 

~

 

Melk, you're a bit of an artist. Could you do a cup for the winner's sig? 

 

I was thinking that in honour of Fionavar we could name it the

 

OBSIDIAN LIZARD BUTT CUP

[melkathi]

I have been meaning to look into that. When setting up the multiplayer league, one has to choose a trophy from a selection of about 20. I haven't noticed if there is an option to upload a custom image.

[Spider]

I'm certainly interested, just have the same caveat as Nepenthe. Also time differences could be an issue or maybe everyone is from Europe?

 

Also, I can only join a rookie league, but it seems like what's being considered here anyway?

[melkathi]

I think a rookie league would be best. Only Wals seems to have experienced teams. It would also make this more "obsidiany".

Hurlshot is a friend from oversea. I know not where Serrano is from.

[Hurlshort]

I can work around the time differences pretty well.  It just might mean weekend game times.

[Walsingham]

I have been meaning to look into that. When setting up the multiplayer league, one has to choose a trophy from a selection of about 20. I haven't noticed if there is an option to upload a custom image.

 

I just mean for bragging rights.

 

The cup in game can be anything at all.

[Serrano]

I'm in the UK and my schedule is a bit up in the air because my work hours vary. I do work weekends but I should always be available after 6pm BST. 

[Walsingham]

I can't do Monday or Tuesday evenings, nor Saturday daytimes.

[Serrano]

The Rulebook (From the Games Workshop website, so it's legal)

 

Beginner's Tips

 

Teams Overview

 

Video Guides

 

And this is mentioned in the video guide but if you press G while on the pitch it will bring up the grid view and show the tackle zones around each enemy player. 

Edited September 13, 2013 by Serrano

[melkathi]

 

And this is mentioned in the video guide but if you press G while on the pitch it will bring up the grid view and show the tackle zones around each enemy player. 

 

The other important key is C. It will switch camera to free move instead of the zoomed in view. Very important when you try to intercept or use your wizard.

[melkathi]

The "Obsidian League" has commenced.

Password to join is: mahgnislaw

 

It is an Open League. This means you can just register a team and play against anyone else in there. I figured this would be best to get us started. We can always create a cup later on when we see that people truly are having fun and want to do something more organised.

 

Currently there is one registered team:

Khaine's Bloody Hands

[Hurlshort]

Ok I joined...seems a bit confusing.  I made a brand new necromantic team and they look like they will be terrible.

[Serrano]

Taken from a guide;

 

Overview:

Necromantic are the less strong more speedy version of the Undead team. They have immoveable Golems instead of Mummies and sacrifice two of the Ghouls for Werewolves. Both player types are great, the Golems can really tie up players and slow down cages as well as blocking paths against weaker teams. The Werewolves are more resilient than a Ghoul and are great Blitzers taking out players regardless of their armour.

Amongst all the more hard hitting teams, they are probably one of the worst at caging initially. They lack either the strength or the initial hitting skills that other teams of this type have. This may prove to be a challenge to deal with as perhaps their play style may involve more of a cross over to a faster running play than a more straight forward hitting style.

For beginners I don’t think they are the best team for the reasons outlined above. Along with the tricky skills the werewolves start with, I feel that they may prove somewhat too complex for a coach just starting out.

Strengths:

Lots of Regenerate
Cheap Linemen

Weaknesses:

No Ball Handling Skills
Expensive Rerolls