BloatedGuppy said:
I'm actually
really surprised with the advise you got. Very minimal and glossed over some important tactics that you really should know going into the game, especially with the types of questions you're asking. So, it'll be a bit of a read, but I'll try to cover as much as I can below...
In Blood Bowl there are three general types of strategy a team will follow: bashing or bashy, passing or elfy and trick.
Bashing: These teams excel at exactly how you tried to coach when you first started out, bashing a team into submission. The goal of a bashy team is to try and cause as many injuries as possible until they out number the other team. Bashy teams aren't particularly fast so it can safely be assumed they will have low scoring games and rely more of defensive plays as well as slow grinds to the end zone. Good examples of bashy teams are Orcs, Chaos and Dwarves.
Passing: These teams excel at making huge plays in very few turns. They're often very good at dodging and splitting a players defense to have more options in the back field for long pass plays. You'll want to focus on making sure you have a solid thrower to grab the ball as quickly as possible after kick-off and plenty of players who can get to the end zone without getting bogged down in the opponent's defensive line. Wood Elves, Humans and High Elves are all typical passing teams.
Trick: Trick play teams are ones who neither excel at bashing nor passing, but have a combination of their tactics, usually with a twist added for flavour. While it's difficult to pin down an exact strategy with most trick teams (as their trick varies from team to team) it's safe to assume most trick teams will try to run the ball like a bashy team, but rely on dodging or short passes rather than blocking to move more efficiently. Often times, however, a trick team will have a gimmick or particular player types that accomplishes the goal of either being bashy to elfy but uses strange rules to do so. A good example of this is the Dark Elf Assassin who can disable players and even the ball carrier (which they are especially adept at) but without throwing a typical block. Good examples of trick teams are Lizardmen (Skinks play elfy, Saurus and Kroxigors play bashy), Dark Elves (higher base stats and assassins to help run the ball) and Goblins (lots of secret weapons and
two Big Guys).
Throwing blocks is probably one of the most important rules you need to understand in the game. Luckily, it's pretty easy. The amount of dice you get to throw on a block is determined by a direct measurement of the blocker's strength score versus the target's strength score. If the blocker's strength is greater than the target's, he rolls two dice. Anything less and it's one die. If the blocker's strength happens to be double or greater, you get three dice! This number is modified by two other variables: players who can assist the blocker and players who can assist the target. Each model in contact with the opposing model (ex. defenders in contact with the blocker) confer a +1 to the player they're assisting. This means that an assisting model in contact with another assisting model cancel eachother out. This even extends to models not within base contact of the blocker/target, but just with the assisting model.
http://www.play-creator.com/viewplay.asp?viewplay=10884
In the example above, the blocker ends up getting a +1 in that situation because his teammate is distracting on of the target's assisting team member's from behind, freeing up one of his team mates to assist him with the block. If the blocker and target has the same strength scores, the blocker would throw two dice for the block because of that +1!
As I said before, throwing blocks is probably one of the most important aspects of the game, which is why defending your ball carrier is a skill all within itself. The penultimate strategy of every coach is to use what's called a cage.
The Cage: A cage is the tactic of placing as many tackle zones (I.E. areas that the opposing team has to run through that you get to throw a free block against them) around your ball carrier as humanly (or orcily, as the case may be) possible as well as maximizing the dice you get to throw on those blocks. Depending on your team's play style, you may want to consider having a very tight cage or a very loose cage to take advantage of how much you plan to pass or run the ball, as well as how good you are at throwing blocks through defensive lines. Below are some examples of cages.
http://www.play-creator.com/viewplay.asp?viewplay=10885
A typical Blood Bowl Cage
http://www.play-creator.com/viewplay.asp?viewplay=10886
A very tight cage for bashy teams
http://www.play-creator.com/viewplay.asp?viewplay=10887
Loose cage for elfy teams
http://www.play-creator.com/viewplay.asp?viewplay=10888
A loose cage with extra protection
As with throwing a block, you get to add +1 for every player adjacent to the player who provoking a block from running through a tackle zone.
Since you've gotten the rest of the basics already (waste time when you have the ball, do all non dice rolling actions first, get skills that eliminate bad rolls on the dice) I'll just go over your two questions.
Committing a foul works just like the second phase of throwing a block, fouler's strength score versus the target's armour value to determine if the player is injured and has to roll on the injury table. Every player assisting the fouler adds a +1 to their strength roll. This is good because the minimum result on the injury table is to be knocked unconscious (the little bell ringing over a player's head) which takes them off their field until the regain consciousness (rolling 4-6 after someone scores or at the end of the first half). The problem with this is that there's also a random chance the referee might see you fouling and send your player off for the rest of the game (no rolling to come back!) which is bad, especially if the opposing player you fouled just gets right back up next drive.
Bribing the Ref is a special perk you can buy before each match that eliminates one instance in which a referee bans a player from the rest of the game. Most players use Bribe the Ref to keep players with the special rule Secret Weapon (they must be banned from the match after the drive they were placed on the field ends) in the game for an extra drive. It's also a useful perk to buy if you have an extremely bashy team and you want to commit a few fouls here and there, though the best bashy teams typically take advantage of the roll against armour on the initial block their throw through skills like Mighty Blow and Pile On. Still, being able to safely foul players for a little while is
always a good thing!
Big Guys: Almost every team has one, and sometimes even more than one. These are the big, slow, dumb bashy guys on any team. The most unique thing about a Big Guy is that they have multiple advantages, but always have a disadvantage in which they must roll to see if they can act. Often times there are serious side effects if they fail (Really Stupid characters don't emit tackle zones when they're afflicted by failing their Really Stupid roll) while other just have special stipulations (Wild Animal normally fails on a 1-3, but if the model blitzes he only fails on a one). To counteract these drawbacks, Big Guys start with multiple skills that help them be better players when they are acting, and often have very high strength scores which automatically make them great blockers for your front line. Be careful, though, because a Big Guy without support around him can easily get surrounded and taken out by a gang of weaker players through massive assist bonuses on a block! A good strategy is to try and tackle the opposing player's Big Guy right off the line on a kick-off by clearing the smaller blockers away from the enemy Big Guy and moving your guys into assist, then, throw a block with your center man and hope you get a good roll on that two dice block!
Overall, just think about what you're doing and
ALWAYS remember to play to your team's strengths and make moves that don't involve rolling dice FIRST because a turnover ends your turn!
Happy Blood Bowling!
And have done since the original board game came out lol. I just got Chaos Edition, good on them for the big discount for owning an older version.
