http://fortressat.com/ Sat, 18 May 2013 16:05:12 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.3 http://fortressat.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3346#josc80289 I've decided that I don't like BB:TM. I'm a huge BloodBowl fan but I found Team Manager to be just frustrating. I didn't find it fun at all. I generally like difficult decisions and limited resources in games but for some reason I can't quite figure out, this game falls flat for me. The one huge problem I have is the way you pick matches. I frequently find myself in the following situation: I'm in matches against Player A and Player B while they are also in one match against each other. For whatever reason, Player A gives up on his match with Player B. So he concentrates his entire force on his match with me. This then frees up PLayer B to throw all her players into her match with me as well. So I get fucked in both matches. I guess I don't like it because there is so much open info to analyze and lots of decisions to make but in the end, it seems the game is decided by the metagame. evilgit Thu, 21 Jun 2012 21:25:13 +0100 http://fortressat.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3346#josc80271 Blood Bowl has been distinct from the regular Warhammer World since 5th Edition (1996.) Warhammer Quest was printed back when the worlds were interchangeable and a bit more wonky. BB is the only one of the Specialist Games that kind of exists in its own realm, as Mordheim and Warmaster are directly connected to Warhammer Fantasy, and Necromunda, Battlefleet Gothic, and Epic Armageddon are set in the 40K universe. But there are no Blood Bowl teams or stadia or cheerleaders or organized leagues in the Old World, since most of the associated races spend most of their time killing each other on sight. Jackwraith Thu, 21 Jun 2012 18:01:50 +0100 http://fortressat.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3346#josc80270 [quote=InfinityMax]Columbob, there's an alternate hero for Warhammer Quest who is the ex-Bloodbowl player. There is some crossover, but I'm not sure anyone really pays it much mind. [/quote] That guy was an unofficial hero released through their Deathblow mag or something, for a laugh mostly. Warhammer Quest is pretty bonkers anyways, in the higher levels of experience you could routinely encounter a Nagash-like adversary named Liche King or Overlord or something silly. Columbob Thu, 21 Jun 2012 17:46:31 +0100 http://fortressat.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3346#josc80267 [quote]You're not the coach, either. You're the manager of the whole team.[/quote] I know that's the game's intention, but I get the opposite feeling while playing. I have much more control assigning players to the field (the coach) than I do drawing random upgrades off the decks (the GM). bfkiller Thu, 21 Jun 2012 17:07:50 +0100 http://fortressat.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3346#josc80263 Columbob, there's an alternate hero for Warhammer Quest who is the ex-Bloodbowl player. There is some crossover, but I'm not sure anyone really pays it much mind. I really don't mind the theme so much, as long as I mentally segregate it from the other Warhammer material. The world of Warhammer Fantasy is actually pretty cool, dark and heavy and violent and disturbing. If the background material tried to force me to accept Bloodbowl as part of that world, I would be very disappointed. InfinityMax Thu, 21 Jun 2012 15:48:58 +0100 http://fortressat.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3346#josc80261 Wow, I feel bad for you guys. I haven't had any game of this go over one and a half hours. As Matt says in the review, most cruise along at an hour. I still really like this game and will probably always play it if asked. I would say it isn't a 10, but definitely an 8. I hope for an expansion or two for some variety. Dair Thu, 21 Jun 2012 15:18:46 +0100 http://fortressat.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3346#josc80259 My first and only game (4p, learning game for every body) lasted just about 3 hours; that's way too long, but we were reading the rules as we went along. BTW, the theme: it's no secret that BB is in a kind of alternate Warhammer reality. I've never played the RPG, but I'm sure you'll be hard-pressed to find any kind of reference to BB, stadiums, etc. Columbob Thu, 21 Jun 2012 14:59:44 +0100 http://fortressat.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3346#josc80256 Fun fact: I actually met the designer of this one in St. Louis at Geekway. He indicated that the intent was to make a more beer-and-pretzels game, so it's pretty obvious that's how it's meant to be played. I've only had it hit the two-hour mark once, and it was excruciating. Major thinkers can bog it down bigtime. But if everyone is playing laid-back and breezy, it's a lot better and quicker. I really enjoy this one. San Il Defanso Thu, 21 Jun 2012 14:31:22 +0100 http://fortressat.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3346#josc80255 I have played three games of BBTM now. Two 4-player games and one 3-player. Overall, it's a decent game, but not an amazing one. I don't mind long games, but BBTM just about wears out the welcome mat around the two hour mark. It depends on the players, really. There is a lot of open information on the table, so even on player with analysis paralysis can really drag the pace down. Two or more AP players, and the game would start to suck. The cheating tokens, and the hands of cards introduce enough chaos and hidden information to discourage AP, but with so much other info on the table, the AP players are going to do their thing. Of the three games that I played, I won or nearly won all three games, with the same strategy. Early in the game, try to win extra players and team upgrades, and let other people chase the victory point flags. Then go for whatever you can get in midgame. Late game, go for the victory points, because it's too late for most of the other crap to make a difference. As far as I can tell, that is the only reliable strategy for the game, leaving most of the challenge in working out the tactics of individual games and seasons. Shellhead Thu, 21 Jun 2012 14:17:11 +0100