Building a Blood Bowl Team… part 3

Building a Blood Bowl Team… part 2



Early Thoughts…

With my opening loss against the rampaging Orcs a couple of days ago now, I've had time to patch up the wounded, mull over what's been learned, and consider where we go from here.

The roster after my first game looks pretty ropey, with the Runner missing through injury and a lineman down to Strength 2. It is the dilemma with the lineman that has had me pondering options. Can I live with a ST2 player, given that my general ST of 3 is something of a weakness anyway?

I will get a free Journeyman player in my next game to cover the absent Runner. He will be a basic Lineman, but with Loner – meaning he doesn't get to use a team re-roll automatically, he has to pass a test roll first. As long as I play him sensibly and try not to put him in a situation where he might have to use a re-roll, we should be fine.

Talking of re-rolls, I still only have two. As eriochrome pointed out in the comments last week, this isn't really enough. I didn't notice it against the Orcs as I had a bonus re-roll from inducements, however, in my next match I won't get that. I did use all my re-rolls in both halves against the Orcs, just about, so will have to be careful.

One of my Blitzers – Adin Heartrender – now has the Dodge skill, in addition to Block, thanks to the touchdown he scored (and MVP points). This will be great when Blocking and being Blocked and makes me initially think he should now be on the front line, where he will be difficult to knock down. On the other hand he would make a good ball carrier for the same reason. Decisions, decisions.

The Blitzers generally felt like the backbone of the team. The fact that they are one of the fastest models I have, with the highest armour available to me, and they start with Block, makes them invaluable. I certainly need to do more the get the others skilled up.

I would look to get a second Runner as soon as I am able I think. The Witch Elves are nice, but fragile and expensive. I need Reserve players available to me, given how many end up off the field, and I think a second Runner would give me options.

Before that though I need to look at an Apothecary. He's a lot cheaper than any of my players and is essential to help avoid some nasty injuries. I need cash first though, and that means more games being played.

I'd like to take this opportunity to thank all the commenters over the last few weeks, especially Tristan M who has been very helpful on both my blog and Bull's blog with comments and advice on our progress. Your thoughts are much appreciated and pointing out where we've missed rules has been invaluable – thank you!

Away from the playing, my box of plastic arrived mid-game on Friday. I sat down after the match to have a go at building the first of my 'Dark Eldar' inspired Dark Elves.

As you can see, my new Blitzers are already looking the business (above). I will be adding some greenstuff to make sure they're all unique and characterful. I'm thinking of getting these and then some runners complete before moving on to the Linemen. If I can get an entire team out of a single box of Warriors and a single box of Wyches (costing approx £30) I'll be happy.

I'm going to stick with a purple theme, but rather understated. The Blitzers will contain more black in their scheme than the Linemen, and the Runners will have more flesh exposed.

When I'm at a point where I need Witch models I will weigh up my options. I could try and make them out of the kits I have, or go for it and buy some more specific Dark Elf plastics as I discussed in part 1.

I found the above image on the Painting Miniature Wargames website and it is proving to be quite an inspiration. Visit the site to see the models in detail. This guy used multiple boxes of Wyches though, so I will have to be a bit more creative.

So we have a little time now, as everyone returns to work and routine after the holidays, to gather our teams together and prepare for the next game. Bull is threatening Skaven and Mr Awdry is contemplating throwing his hat into the ring as he looks at the options available to him.

Building a Blood Bowl Team… part 4

Building a Blood Bowl Team… part 2

Building a Blood Bowl Team… part 1

The Orcland Raiders came down to visit the fledgling Dark Elves, to see what they were made of. This would be a new experience for me against the old adversary. I knew that the Orcs were bruisers and that, whilst more agile, the Dark Elves didn't have the strength to go toe-to-toe with the greenskins.

I had done a lot of reading, podcast listening and theorising and I had a (basic) plan. We would be receiving in the first half which was good. We also got a healthy dose of inducements so I took some extra training (for an additional re-roll) and some babes (for a dice roll bonus when recovering from a knock out).

By the way – you will see two Witches on the pitch who as actually posing as Blitzers, in case it looks confusing!

Things started well. We got Quick Snap on the Kick Off Table and my team got a free move. We backed off the Orcs on the line of scrimmage and moved closer to the ball.  My runner picked up the ball first time and even managed a cheeky pass to the nearby blitzer – first SPP for the Dark Elves!

The Orcs were restricted to a single Blitz move during their opening turn and in my next turn I managed to down their two newly-skilled players. Nice.

However, the Orc retaliation was immediate and soon Elves were down across the pitch.

It wasn't long before the first Dark Elf casualty – one of my precious Blitzers – a bitter blow. Going into turn 6 we still had the ball and had backed off the Orcs and edged our way to the left side of the pitch. I found myself rather boxed in so sent out some linemen as potential receivers and to draw away some of the Orcs and open up gaps.

The Orc noose closed tighter around the ball carrier and I was forced into some radical action. After some neat dodging out of tackle zones and lucky one-dice blocks I had opening up an opportunity to pass the ball to my Runner (out of the above shot to the right).

It was all looking good and there was a single Black Orc needing 6's to intercept the pass.

Guess what… he rolled a 6 to intercept the pass!

Panic ensued on both sides as the Orcs tried to muster around the less-than-agile Black Orc, breaking up tackle zones, and the Elves hammered back to try and stop the touchdown.

The Black Orc managed to hand-off to a Blitzer and it was pretty much over. I didn't have the bodies to stop the score in turn 8 of the first half. With three players off the pitch and the touchdown all but guaranteed, in hindsight I should have let the Orcs score on turn 7, allowing my knocked out time to recover for the second half.

1–0 to the Orcs.

The second half threw us a curve ball from the off, with a pitch invasion that hurt two players from both sides. Already having several players off the pitch, this was bad for me, left with only six elves on their feet.

I tried to kick the ball deep into the Orc half to at least spend some time on the other side of the half-way line. Alas the scatter came up maximum distance and the ball went out of play, meaning that Bull could give the ball to anyone he wanted to.

He gave it to the Blitzer on the halfway line who had an almost clear run to the endzone.

This was made even more difficult to defend as the Orc front line decked my three linemen.

The Dark Elves rallied to stop the score and even managed to knock out a Black Orc – our first casualty points of the game!

However, the Orcs were determined and my Runner became the first major Elf casualty. This was bad, very bad. Try as we might, the Orcs strolled in for their second touchdown. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

2–0 to the Orcs.

We managed to get some of our players back for the kick off, but without the Runner I was concerned that I wouldn't be able to score easily. Despite their knocked out Black Orc, the Raiders had the Gobbo to bring on as a substitute. He could also prove to be a pain, able to ignore tackle zones when dodging.

I was slowly learning that this Elf team was also about the Dodging and options that I would not have entertained as an Undead coach, became the bread and butter of the Dark Elves.

We received the ball well and I took it closer to the line of scrimmage, creating a pocket for the Blitzer ball carrier. A slight gap opened up, presenting an opportunity, albeit risky. I decided to go for it and sent the Blitzer through, achieving maximum Go For It moves for an additional 2 squares. Despite being horribly exposed, I had done as much as possible to bog down the Orcs and get as far away as I could with the ball.

However, Nuffle decided that the Orcs are still his favourites, and Bull managed to get a single Blitzer to Go For It enough to get a hit on my ball carrier. Downed and the ball spilled a couple of squares behind, against the touchline.

I sent in reinforcements to create a cage around the ball and the Orcs moved as fast as they could to counter. Anything could happen now!!

I had left the tiniest of gaps in my cage and, as I had predicted, the Gobbo skipped through and picked up the ball. He was immediately downed – out of play and into the crowd. The ball bounced "miraculously" into the hands of a nearby Orc Blitzer and he got pushed into the crowd too.

More Orcs pilled into the fight, but my original ball carrier Blitzer nipped in to get the ball and ran towards the endzone. Had I done enough to tie up the nearby Orcs and allow the Blitzer to score?

Try as he might Bull couldn't get his marauding Blitzer Karfu (remember the name!) – who had already racked up 4 casualties – to the Dark Elf in time.

Touchdown Dark Elves!!

2–1 to the Orcs.

We played out the final turn. I managed to get a free Blitz turn as part of the Kick Off and we went straight for Karfu in the hope of doing him some damage. It was not to be, and the game ended.

We had lost, but there were positives to take from the game. I had scored my first touchdown in… years, and I was starting to see how the Dark Elves worked.

Alas, we had paid a heavy toll by the end of the game. We were lucky with our injury rolls, but the Runner will miss the next game (leaving me a man short) and one of the Linemen  –  Tarud Shademaw – was reduced to Strength 2, which is rather devastating. I also rolled badly on the winnings, so don't have enough to buy in new players. The hero Blitzer of the game managed to get a new skill – Dodge – which will be invaluable.

However, the Orcs racked up lots of SPPs and have now reached a point that they will be somewhat unplayable with my Undead and Dark Elves. They have a lot of skills and will only gain more again my struggling teams.

We're hoping to entice another player or two to join us – are you listening Michael? – and Bull is switching to a starter Skaven team for the next match, so things should get interesting.

My thanks to Bull as always for being a great opponent and sportsman (and not taking the foot off the pedal even when winning), and for braving some awful driving conditions to visit.

Thought and conclusions to come soon…

Building a Blood Bowl Team… part 1

Anyone following the blog recently will have seen my Blood Bowl exploits with the Undead. A late substitution for the big game a few weeks back, I thought they'd be more solid as my starting team for learning the rules again. As it turned out they have similar advantages to my Orky opponents… except the Orcs generally do them better.

The rematch just a few days ago made me realise that I might continue to struggle against the Orcs if I couldn't pick up some more points and skills. The Undead just don't seem to be able to cope when in possession of the ball. Some of this is down to my lack of experience, some to the abilities (or lack) of my team, and a rather large chunk to the fact that Nuffle  – the deity overseeing Blood Bowl is a pun on the pronunciation of NFL – has taken a disliking to me and I continue to roll horrific results on the dice.

I updated my Undead roster and had to order some new models, so I decided to put them on the back burner until the new additions had arrived and were painted. In their place would step the original Dark Elf team that I had shelved just 48 hours before our first game.

I have read blogs and watched a few videos about how they should work and are a complete contrast to my Undead team. Maybe these would be a better fit to my play style, despite being more difficult to master it seems.

With the next scheduled game due tomorrow I put together a starting roster which, according to various authorities, gives a good balance to begin with. I made sure every player had a name – this will help generate the kind of characters that are already developing on the Orc and Undead teams. I will also get some bonuses on the day if facing the Orcs because they have developed several players and have a higher team value.

With that sorted I needed to look at models…

The original models I bought have had some fresh paint on them and were starting to look the part. I don't have all the appropriate models to match the starting roster, so the Witch Elves will have so stand in as the additional Blitzers for now.

I started painting them with the best of intentions, but the limited sculpts and their very old Citadel looks started to turn me off. Not a good start.

The last thing I need right now is a new project but I couldn't stop this one bursting out. I decided I wanted to make my own bespoke Dark Elf team using Dark Eldar plastics. I've seen a few examples online and they have the potential to look just downright awesome. I want a team of superstars!

Online purchases were made over Christmas, with an imminent arrival. There should be plenty of extras to make any additional/star players needed and the versatility allows me to make something unique to me.

The new plastic Warhammer Witch Elves kit looks fantastic and will be perfect when the time comes to add some to the team. However, at £35 for ten of them (when I only need two) is very excessive. If I do decide to go that route I will probably take what I need and sell the rest on Ebay to recoup some of the cost. I don't buy my models direct from GW so should get them a little cheaper to begin with.

So that's the plan.

This series of blog posts will track the construction and painting of my new plastic Dark Elf Blood Bowl team, track their game results and compare tactics and models with the Undead, my only other Blood Bowl experience. I'll also track the financial cost and time involved in building the new team.

Long live the Daggeroth Darkblades!!


Part Two…