[BB] All or Nothing - A Season with the Uzkulak Earthshakers

I love Blood Bowl! It’s the only GW game I have played consistently for the last 15 years, everything else has been casual. Unfortunately I’ve really lost interest in the last couple of years (just before the new edition came out) but I love to read about it.

I haven’t played a lot of CD but I do feel a bit of an itch when I read your match reports.
If you would like some ideas, I have some thoughts on how to maximise your potential.

In the meantime get on that gridiron, make Hashut proud and may Nuffle be tender in his mercies.

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Sure thing, mate, I’m always all ears for wisdom by experienced coaches!
But just to avoid confusions, I only play the BB2 video game (… yet!), just in case there is something special which only applies to the actual game.

Happy to read that my exploits tickle your Blood-Bowl-bone :21:

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That’s the bit I’m a bit unsure about, if they have altered anything about the tabletop for digital play.
So I’ll keep my comments as generic as possible.

The minotaur generally speaking isn’t a great option - he’s expensive, unreliable and soaks up your blitz to keep him mobile. But we already have one, and amazingly with Block, so that’s the best of a bad job. Ideally, he will now never move, stick him on the line of scrimmage, use Blockers to feed him players (Grab is great for this), and activate him as late as possible so he doesn’t cause a turnover. Not much fun, but it’ll work wonders.

Bull-centaurs - Nuffle’s gift to the CD coach. They are tough to level up, so when you get a really safe chance to get a touchdown with one (touchback or very few opponents left on the pitch and you have a good ‘pocket’ incase he fumbles) do it!
Ideally you’ll want one with Strip Ball, Frenzy who acts as a sweeper and one with Block, Tackle making holes in your opponent’s cage.

Blockers - these fat ba*ds want Guard. They’re tough to level but honestly they’re almost perfect out-of-the-box. They form the basis of your defence and your offence. Keep them in contact with the enemy and keep on punching. Always follow-up (more-or-less) because they aren’t going to be catching anyone otherwise. :joy:

Hobgoblins - your slave surprise. Basically a lineman from any other team. They need to be doing everything that the other guys can’t. That means picking up the ball, kicking poor bastards who are on the ground (so get a Sneaky Git early) and scoring your touchdowns.

Your team is amazing in the defence. You excel at it. There is only one other team on your level and that’s the Dwarves. What that means is you want to start on the offence - your team is at its freshest and will be grinding the hell out of your opponent. You’ve got 8 turns to score, and only need to move the ball-carrier 7 squares into the opponent’s half (to make a dash in T7-8). Go wild, punching, kicking and targeting your opponent’s best players. Anything you can do is worth it if you manage to make it harder for them to score. Because in the second half you’ll be doing your best thing (defending) with a lead (you did score didn’t you?! :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:) against an opponent you’ve crippled. Keep engaged, use one Bull to force an error (blitzing the corner of the cage, bundle in Blockers and hope for them to miss roll), and the other to pick off anyone who tries to sneak by.

That’s my general tips, but if you have specific questions or anything you think I’m just dead wrong about I’m happy to discuss it more!

Praise Hashut! Touchdowns in his glory.

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Reading this it just struck me that we dont have a “Tactics” section on the new forum yet. @badmoongrin care to write up a generic BB one to start of the section? :slight_smile:

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I can give it a try - I mean, I’ve said most of what needs saying above and my knowledge is largely out-of-date - but I’m happy to try.
I’ll probably need a reminder because at the moment I’m working on my Secret Santa and 15mm army (sloooooowly).

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It was game day again, I played the Nurgle AI. It was the brutal game you would expect. I started on offence, was stopped, got the ball again, was stopped again. First half was 0:0. I suffered some injuries but kept my Apothecary in the back because I was fearing worse outcomes. I ended up not using him, which bugs me out. Second half I could stop him and gradually got the upper hand. I have made some minor mistakes throughout the game, but in the very end came the big one. I continue to surprise myself with the mistakes I keep making. So I was in my turn 15 (so AI had another one and then I the final one), my Hobgoblin had the ball, was 6 squares away from the end zone, was well protected and no enemy close. I could just run for the touchdown. I then had the fantastic idea to move my Bull Centaur, who had 5/6 SPP, in the end zone and hand him the ball for a touchdown, thinking even if he would fumble, I could recover in my last turn again and score with the Hobgoblin. Foolishly I proceeded, of course missing the first 5+ (oh yeah, it was raining, of course it was), missed my last re-roll. What I had not considered was that the ball would very likely fall out of bounds, and that was exactly what happened. It bounced far away into no mans land. I could not recover it in my last turn and the game ended 0:0. So yeah. Very stupid. I risked a lot, I really struggle to upgrade those Bull Centaurs, but I never should have done that, not with 0:0. The tie feels veeeeery much like a loss, even more than the one against the Dwarfs.

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Oh no :man_facepalming:t2: that one makes me so sad it was hard to read, the way goes sometimes though, rest safe in the knowledge it’ll never ever happen again :grin::grin:

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Thanks mate, yeah I think at least I learned my lesson here :sweat_smile:

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Ouch! Yeah, that’s Nuffle’s generous hand.

Definitely a risky play on 0 : 0 but I also understand the motivation to do so. I would probably have done the same.

Another way to do it would have been to put the Bull-centaur next to the ball-carrier and hand-off to him so he could walk in to the endzone in turn 16 with already carrying the ball (since in that case the fumble would keep the ball inside your maul).

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Damn, yeah that would have been better! :sob:

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We live and learn!