Well, I've done it. I've finally played Blood Bowl. And you know what? I
really like it. Granted, I lost as my wife crushed my undead team with the Dwarfs that I will be using in the Block'em Blood Bowl League this Fall, but fun was had by all. I have to imagine it plays faster as the rules get to be better known too. It took us about 3 hours to play a game, including numerous kid interruptions and rules look ups.
We played on the Skaven pitch I made (which still lacks a score board) despite the fact that the Skaven team was left out of the game. They hosted I guess. The Dwarfs received first, marched relentlessly down the field and scored on turn 7 of the first half. With only 2 turns to go in the half, I didn't have the time to even the score. Second half I was able to score fairly early with the swift ghouls, but my attempt at an aggressive blitz to cause a fumble and score a second time were thwarted by the stalwart Dwarfs. Taking advantage of my over-commitment on his end of the field, Stef created a path through what little defense I had and ran through it to score again. Dwarfs win 2-1.
I was inspired enough to paint up the undead I had put together for the occasion. The skeletons are a box of Wargames Factory Skeleton Warriors, a bargain at $20 for 30 models. Unfortunately they are some of the fiddliest models I have ever worked with. Femurs would break on the sprue, and there was only the tiniest of contact points for the arms. Even the process of trimming the mold lines or the sprue connection points routinely ended with a broken piece. I resorted to chemical methods (solvent glue) to do most of that work after breaking one too many bit. Frustrating. I know I had a "version 1" box, so I'm hoping there are some improvements to the current version 2 models. I understand version 2 comes with bases too, which would have been nice.
To represent the 2 Wights the team can have, I modded a couple of the skeletons to include head spikes and a cloak made from paper grocery bag with a little freehand. Nothing spectacular, but an easily identifiable model.
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| The Wights |
For the Mummy I used one of my recently acquired Reaper Bones models. It works fine, but is a bit small for the supposed strength 5 this model has.
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| The Mummy |
The ghouls are your garden variety GW Vampire Counts ghouls. I am quite fond of this model, as they are an interesting mix of human and animal, bestial yet adorned with gruesome decoration.
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| The Ghouls |
Finally, the bulk of the team, the skeletons. The undead team can have 0-16 skeletons and 0-16 zombies, but I figured I'd just stick to skeletons (mostly since I owned them already.)
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| The Skeletons |
Admittedly, there isn't really anything very Blood Bowl-y about these minis. I could have given them shoulder pads or something, but in the end I just built them and painted them. Boooring, I know. The nice part is that I can easily add things to them later should the mood strike me. I need to get 7 of my 11 Dwarf team models painted for the league, so I don't expect the mood will strike me anytime soon.
Welcome to your new addiction ;)
ReplyDeleteAt least that's how it was for me after my first game. And a league coming up? That's when it is the most fun.
re: '2 turns left not enough time to score': don't forget go-for its.. 2 turns is enough time for any team to score: just need some luck & decent dice. 3 ghouls can do it fairly easily;
a ghoul on the midline at one side, 2 others behind: one deep, one mid: retrieve the ball with one, quick pass if needed, then/or hand off to the one on the line- blitz as much of a path as you can and send the carrier down 6 or 7 spaces, follow with wights, make a small cage. hope to survive the attack that will come, then push dwarves out of the way and run for the score, one or 2 Go for it, probably a dodge or two and you're in. Of course, the dice have to be friendly.
I see the Ferret has corrupted you at last. I think it's a good idea to play your first games with figures like this. Once you've been playing a while you'll find the team that you just must have.
ReplyDeleteI happened upon Mr. Ferret's blog from his excellent "Give Him A Goblin" entry and have been absolutely inspired by his amazing teams, but credit goes to Tristan at gwpertinent/Merry Mayhem News for the recruitment. (Whether it's credit or blame, history will decide.)
ReplyDeleteGood to hear that you are putting those minis I sold you to use already.
ReplyDeleteI'm confident the end result will be credit. :)
ReplyDeleteYou definitely need a second mummy if you don't have one. Like ASAP (after your dwarves are finished) ;)
You probably will want some zombies for this team - a blend of the two linemen types works very well in game. I am amazed you painted 16 skeletons! I have a big box of wargames factory zombies I think I can scrounge some to send you.
The bonus of having so many skeletons and zombies is you will be set for FTLOTG teams at zlurpeebowl next year. Ask Matt about it ;)
I have another mummy from my Bones that I've converted, but haven't finished painting him yet. He looks terrible. Seriously. I should just scribble on him with a Sharpie or something.
DeleteI too have a box of WF zombies (and zombie vixens) that I was using for my Nurgle plague zombie list, so I can probably re-purpose some of those easily. I didn't really see the benefit of zombies over skeletons for the same cost, as you lose both 1 MA and thick skull. You get 1 more armor with zombies, but that seems like a bad trade compared to the movement.