Discuss Fantasy football-style board games - GW's Blood Bowl, Impact!'s Elfball, Privateer Press' Grind, Heresy's Deathball, etc. THIS IS NOT AN NFL FANTASY FOOTBALL SITE!
The best way to never improve in this game is to tell yourself every time you lose that you were unlucky
There is a counter point to that. Telling yourself every time you lose you lost because your opponent was lucky.
The other flaw (Which often goes hand in hand with coaches who believe themselves unlucky in losing) is to imagine that luck played NO part in your victory.
There are many times where I made lame choices, or forgot about a skill on my roster, etc, but still won the game because I was knocking players down and breaking armor.
At the end of the day, it is possible to win a game you should have lost because you were lucky. And nothing will stop you from developing as a coach more than believing that your 2 die down block with no re-roll backer or block skill was an acceptable place to be!
By the way, the most annoying coach in Blood Bowl is the player who believes everything he does that goes well is a result of his great skill, and everything that goes against him is a result of his opponents luck. These players will openly be hostile to you during games because they feel like they are Mozart and you are Salieri, but that his piano is untuned and you have orchestral backing.
Man, I wish that previous paragraph made more sense. Short point: Sometimes you really are lucky, but don't let that stop you from critiquing yourself, as you probably did something you can do better next itme.
Its been said really, a good player assesses risks and takes them. I don't agree with the avoid risk definition. Stalling is such a lame way to win. Sure you'll win, but you also play to have fun. The really good coaches not only win, but they win by more than 1 TD. You can win all your games at a tourney by playing safe, but not win the tournament because the first tie-breaker is touch downs. So really good players don't stall unless it will cost them the game. Sometimes you can win a match by taking a big chance, just make sure you have a back-up plan if you screw up.
A good player:
Takes chances at the right time and forces hisopponent to take chances at the wrong time.
Won't even roll that 3 dice block with a re-roll and block skill to back it up, if he hasn't got a back up plan.
Would even try a 6+ roll if the potential reward outweighs the potential punishment.
I agree with most of the above points about risk management and identifying skill vs. luck (sort of... there are a lot of gray areas there, where it's very hard to tell which is which: the larger point about humility is very important). I'd also add that it's a game of resource management (a team that develops with skills and purchases, players and tackle zones on the field, injuries, etc.).
Also, really good Blood Bowl players spend much more time playing defense, and spend more time thinking about defense as a result. Once your offense is better than 50% effective, defensive strategy becomes more important, and if your offense is better than that, defensive strategy becomes more important still.
One thing you CAN control in BB is your defensive setup. Your defensive setup drives your opponent's offense: in effect, the offense must set up AND take a turn in response to the defensive setup. There's no one right way to do it or to think about it, but coaches who think about defensive set-up and who build and develop their teams with D in mind (obeying certain offensive requirements in the case of, say, Dwarf or Undead teams) are also the ones who get to exercise their D skills over and over.
Remember, if you won 4-0, 75% of your TDs were on defense, by definition.
Reason:''
What is Nuffle's view? Through a window, two-by-three. He peers through snake eyes.
What is Nuffle's lawn? Inches, squares, and tackle zones: Reddened blades of grass.
What is Nuffle's tree? Risk its trunk, space the branches. Touchdowns are its fruit.
Jural wrote:
By the way, the most annoying coach in Blood Bowl is the player who believes everything he does that goes well is a result of his great skill, and everything that goes against him is a result of his opponents luck.
Never has a truer statement been said on this board.
Plus avoiding stoopid rookie errors like putting secret weapons on when you are ogres v elves, so they only get one turn. Rats. I'll put it down to experience...
Marlow wrote:So how do you deal with leapers?
Wide cage, lots of guard players...
Time will tell... but I think a tight X formation (ball carrier center and at least two guards on opposite corners, all figs within 1 square of the ball carrier) might work best... that way he has 1/2d block...
1) Guard on opposing corners of the cage
2) Block, Dodge, Sure Hands ball carrier (priority depends on their skills)
3) Deep defence to make access harder than a standard cage
4) Coverage for if you do get knocked down - so ball retrieval is harder for them.
ianwilliams wrote:4) Coverage for if you do get knocked down - so ball retrieval is harder for them.
Indeed, sometimes no matter what you do a leaper will knock the ball free - Wrestle makes it even easier in LRB 5. I try to plan for this to work, and make sure the loose ball will be hard to pick up, and that the opposing team will suffer plenty of blocks in my following turn. Sometimes the best deterrent is the threat of your next turn.
Reason:''
*This post may have been made without the use of a hat.
Jural wrote:
By the way, the most annoying coach in Blood Bowl is the player who believes everything he does that goes well is a result of his great skill, and everything that goes against him is a result of his opponents luck.
Never has a truer statement been said on this board.
I doff my cap to you Sir.
By the way, this statement/the guide has been written by RedVenom. You'll see him around here from time to time.
DukeJan wrote:The really good coaches not only win, but they win by more than 1 TD. You can win all your games at a tourney by playing safe, but not win the tournament because the first tie-breaker is touch downs. So really good players don't stall unless it will cost them the game.
Here I have to disagree. On a 2day/6 game event, you'll be on the first place if you won all 6 games unless there are more than 64 coaches attending. Most of the time, first tie breaker only gets important if the final match has been a draw.
A good player is one who is fun to play with, is competative and challenging but who inevitably enjoys the game win or lose.
Fortunately most players I play against are like this and know how to pick themselves up on every game and get into the spirit of it.
Live and love life to the full, Work hard and play the game fair and when its done die happy knowing when its done you the best you could!
Reason:''
Blood Bowl .. Live to play and play to live! Check out now:
A good coach in a league scores a lot: 3+/match on average with a speed team and 2+/match on average with a slug team. Likewise, the best coaches have the teams that take the least damage: speed teams that go even-up and smash teams that suffer hardly any damage at all while doling out a fair whackin'. The best Elf coaches spread Comps out everywhere so MVP = roll. The best coaches score with the guy who's got 3-4 SPP by preference. In short, the best coaches get the most improvements, which is what makes underdog wins so delicious (though the current TV rules IMO dull the value of the giant-killer victory).
In a tournament, this doesn't apply. Favorable TD/Cas rates are good of course (because it probably means you win), but SPP are not an end in themselves.
Reason:''
What is Nuffle's view? Through a window, two-by-three. He peers through snake eyes.
What is Nuffle's lawn? Inches, squares, and tackle zones: Reddened blades of grass.
What is Nuffle's tree? Risk its trunk, space the branches. Touchdowns are its fruit.
