Blood Bowl PlayBook

by Andy Chambers (Blood Bowl Home of @rnholm)

After a long and succesful career as coach of the Skavenblight Scramblers I finally decided to hang up my running shoes and try something different. I wanted to play with a slower but harder team than Skaven, a team with players which didn’t give me a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach every time they got blocked. Although I was tempted by the Orcs, I was eventually seduced by the lack of subtlety of the Chaos team and the mouth-watering selection of hideous monsters that will play for them. After winning both the Spike Trophy and the Chaos Cup and getting to the semi-finals for the Blood Bowl, I must say that I’m delighted with my choice.

by Reinier van Noort (Paradigm Central)

After having played Bloodbowl for some time (ever since 3rd edition was re-issued, somewhere in the second half of the nineties), I consider myself an experienced BB player, having played Humans/Orcs in the very beginnings, Dwarfs (for a very long time), Chaos Dwarfs, Chaos, Dark Elves and now Vampires in 4th edition.

After guiding my beloved Vampires through only 9 games, of which I must admit I only won the last 3, I’m already starting to be brave enough to put some information on the net regarding how to play with Vampires.

by WarNerve79@aol.com (www.blood-bowl.net)

I have been playing undead since first starting BloodBowl and I must say they are one of the best teams out there if played correctly.

People say that the other races can “dance” around undead, that is not true. Just look at the above average 7 movement on the ghouls, or the average 6 movement on the wights. Do not forget the vampires movement of 6 also, they might be big guys but they are worth the effort it takes to lose the off-for- a-bite drawback skill.

by Andy Meechan (www.blood-bowl.net)

You’ve played against the same Coaches with their same teams and their same tactics for a lot of games. You’ve no doubt sussed their favourite plays and have, hopefully, developed some nasty counter-plays of your own. You’ve also noticed that they use similar tactics no matter what race they Coach. No doubt they know the same about you.

What you need is to ‘throw them a curve’ in your plays, let them think and react and not respond like automata. Put some interest into your games again – this is, of course, where lateral thinking comes in.

by unknown (FUMBBL)

The greatest asset of the Lizardmen is their speed; the Skinks are lightning-fast with Ma 8, and even the strong Saurus have Ma 6. The Kroxigor is considered to be one of the best Big Guys out there being able to tie up opposing players with Prehensile Tail. Many coaches who have not played Lizardmen before struggle against them, mostly because they are so different. In the hands of a skilled coach, Lizardmen are very hard to beat.

by Stephen Babbage with Coach Blacknife (www.blood-bowl.net)

To me, Blood Bowl is a fun strategy game: yes, the most important element is strategy. In our league a team winning by luck alone is very rare; obviously luck does affect gameplay and can help determine the outcome of a game, but if the Coach is not using strategies and intelligence to win then they’ll find it difficult.

by Carl_Stoneyard (FUMBBL)

Chaos Dwarf teams employ an interesting mix of strength and speed. Think of the Chaos Dwarf team as a 17th-century army: The blockers are the regular infantry that can be relied upon to survive and stand their ground. The big guy are the powerful but unreliable and expensive mercenaries. Your hobgoblins are the cheap auxillary troops used to plug gaps in the frontline or to do behind-the-line duty. And the bull centaurs? Well you guessed it. They are the cavalry.

by Coach 'Krusher (Coach Blacknife's Dugout)

Overall, the Chaos team has two obvious Strengths – the team’s overall ST (in conjunction with Horns and Strength Skill access) and its good overall AV (no player suffers from below-average armour).

However, there is one glaring Weakness (aside from price) – Chaos teams do not have any bona fide ballhandlers. With no Throwers and no players with a 4 AG, regular players (in this case, Chaos Beastmen) are asked to shoulder the load when it comes to scoring TDs.

by Andy Meechan, with Harald Hedlund (www.blood-bowl.net)

The following may be of use to you in a few ways: you’re a beginning Coach; you want to learn some new plays; or you want to see if your favourite cunning plays are original after all. This should be of use to you unless you fall into the last case; the Lateral Plays page is probably more your style – here we’ll see basic kick-off Offensive and Defensive setups and take you through a turn-by-turn guide on how the play should progress. If you’re a new Coach you’ll find the word ‘should’ gains more meaning as you get into the game: experienced Coaches know what I’m talking about.

by Kohli (www.kohli.de)

Mit dem folgenden Artikel gehe ich auf die Fertigkeit Rasend genauer ein. Beim Blood Bowl kann sich diese Fertigkeit als äußerst nützlich erweisen. Für denjenigen aber, der unvorsichtig ist und sich gar nicht auskennt, kann auch damit ins offene Messer rennen.