team balance

[fitz]

hi all, been reading a while but 1st post!
Im planning on having an all day mini bowl to try an get friends interested, i last played in 3rd ed! Most of the others havnt played bb (all long time gamers). Now, ill be putting teams together, i have skaven, orcs, undead, and looking to convert elves and chaos. Are there any balance issues for beginers with these? Any big changes in team choice?
Cheers
Ben

[Digger Goreman]

Give Elves to the power-gamer: 2+ on so many Ag4 rolls will fit perfectly....

Give Orcs and Undead to the coaches that hate to lose players on the field....

Give Skaven to the coach that doesn't mind sacrifices for speed....

Give Chaos to the most patient coach, they are a challenge in the beginning stages....

Longer answer would be to look up the team lists under the "Tactics and Team Development" threads....

Welcome back!

[stormmaster1]

If they're mostly new to the game then let everyone try a basher and a finnesse team, so they can decide best what appeals to them.

[bjorn9486]

Just remember that players that don't get a finesse team are going to wine about not being able to score. You then need to remind them that their team's job is to turn the finesse players into a pile of goo.

[mattgslater]

Finesse teams are a bit more feast-or-famine. More likely to deliver a whopping (on the scoreboard), and more likely to get whopped. They develop faster, but suffer more attrition, than heavier teams.

[Jural]

For beginners, I think the following rosters probably play the best:

Orcs
Humans
Skaven
High Elves

A mini tourney with those 4 teams would allow a good mix of player types, stat lines, and skills. Expect the High Elves to perform the worst of the lot.

After playing a couple of games and understanding the basics, the following teams are also easily accessible:

Dwarves
Chaos Dwarves
Pro Elves
Wood Elves
Amazons
Norse
Chaos
Undead
Necromantic

I suggest playing at least 10 games in a league environment before moving to the rest of the teams... And some of them might be frustrating long after!

Chaos Pact
Nurgle
Lizardmen
Dark Elf
Slann
Goblins
Halflings
Ogres
Underworld
Khemri
Vampire

I always forget a team or two...

[fitz]

cheers all, plenty to muse on until we get the pitches done (scratch building the 2nd pitch)

Ben

[oryxwild]

I have to disagree about lizardmen - although they do take some getting used to (mostly learning how to use skinks well), they're a very well defined team and are much easier to learn than other advanced teams.

[mattgslater]

I'd say "play a couple games and find out what strategy you like." I'd also say "coaches who like the game but don't get it right away should start with bash." Then I'd split the team lists up somewhat differently from Jural.

Manageable, representative, durable, often start well, start with the skills they need, present a clear, consistent strategy to the beginning coach.
Orcs (the "darling" of BB team design -- overstuffed, yet balanced)
Skaven (have some resilience problems, but low price makes it manageable)
High Elves (a little overpriced, but a clear strategy and ok armor)
Dwarfs (a little limited, but durable and good at what they do)
Amazons (easily the toughest AV7 team, especially in the early going)

These teams have most, but not all, of the characteristics above.
Humans (don't present a consistent strategy)
Chaos Dwarfs (poor ball skills)
Undead (poor ball skills)
Wood Elves (least resilient team in BB; otherwise the best team)
Norse (dependent on coach's tactical skills, conflicting strengths/weaknesses)

These teams have some issues or are built around more advanced concepts, but if a coach really likes their themes he should give it whirl.
Chaos (skill deficit + combo-driven = advanced)
Dark Elves (dependent on coach's tactical skills, not very resilient)
Khemri (serious ball problems, but very good ST)
Lizardmen (non-representative experience; good team for 2nd season)
Necromantic (driven by funky skills, slightly underpowered)
Nurgle (see Chaos, above; at least it has a consistent theme)
Pro Elves (High Elves, only more gimmicky and less resilient)

The following teams are best for coaches who can already play well and are looking to try something new. Not all these teams suck, but I'd discourage anyone who wanted to go into their first season with one of these teams.
Chaos Pact (see Chaos, above, plus gimmicky and complex)
Halflings (yeah)
Slann (gimmickiest team in the game)
Goblins (gimmicky and fragile)
Ogres (second-gimmickiest team in the game)
Underworld (like CP, only weirder)
Vampire (built around anti-skill management)