Let's Play Blood Bowl AGAIN - Skaven Team

YAY! Another Blood Bowl Let's Play! Just what the Codex needed!

Actually, I thought another LP might be interesting, this time of one of the more "agile" teams. Since I refuse to play faggy Elves, I decided to go with Skaven. This will also let me screw around a bit with mutations. This is my first LP (of anything, ever), so be gentle.

This is sort of a spin-off of Brother None's (and thus Anthony Davis') Blood Bowl LPs, so if you're new to the game, it might be good to start with Davis' then go through Brother None's to get a feel for how the game works. Brother None's LP can be found here: http://rpgcodex.net/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=34207, which has a link to Davis' LP, since I am too lazy to dig it up right now.

I am playing classic mode, turn-based (as if a Codex team could play any other way), and on medium difficulty.

Now, I am "proud" to present, the newest Skaven team: The Decline!





And here's our roster. I randomly chose the name of Codex posters I happen to remember, because I'm too lazy to do any sort of poll. If you want to be a replacement (as is certain to be necessary with a Skaven team), feel free to chime in.

Skaven fun facts: Gutter Runners are your bread and butter. Lineman, Blitzers, and Throwers are your standards just like any other team. Gutter Runners only have 2 strength, but a ridiculous 9 movement points, and start off with Dodge. Delicious.

I will purchase a Rat Ogre once I have the cash, but for now, this is what I got.




As you can see, I've gone with 3 re-rolls (because the dice are your enemy), 2 fan factor, and a single cheerleader.



First game against the boring old humans. Balance of speed and strength, so I can't guarantee I'll be able to outrun them. We have equal team value, so no one gets any inducement money to spend.



I choose receiver, because based on my experience playing AGAINST the Skaven, those little fuckers always seem to find a way to score on their possession.



I start off in a Defensive Tackle formation. This might be a good time to mention I have extraordinarily little experience with this sort of team. I've primarily played Dwarves, who live only to grind their enemies into the ground until there's nothing left. In this case, I now actually have to pay attention to the BALL. I am not looking forward to this.

Notice Volourn, standing alone against two humans and their pet ogre. Hold the line, Volly! FOR BIOWARE!!!



Fantastic. This is one of the more useful, or annoying, random kick-off events. In this case I have to choose "annoying", because it's taking 2 turns off my drive.



Dark Underlord gets the ball and is on the move! My next goal is to try to get one or more of my Gutter Runners to the opposition's side of the field so I can make a break for the goal line. This requires knocking at least one of their line down to open a whole, so I only need one dodge at most.



I get Shuma across, but Whiskey Wolf fails his Dodge and ends up on the turf.



A hole opens on the left side and Kingcomrade makes a break down the line! DU is covered, but only has to make one dodge roll and he can get into a good passing position. Dodge is made. Hell yeah. It's go time. Maybe playing the Skaven won't be so bad. DU throws and...



...for fuck's sake. He's what, 20 yards away? Who the fuck taught you how to aim?



Figures. So, DU tosses the ball "out of bounds", as opposed to "towards the receiver", and the ball is randomly tossed back in...



...to about 20 yards from my OWN endzone.



At this point I'm pretty much fucked. I have no cover down there, and he has 2 humans and a fucking ogre as his guard. Yeah. This won't end well.



...yeah. Great start to my opening drive.



This time I choose a more aggressive formation. A modified Blitz with two receivers back to cover both corners of the back field. Or something. I really have no idea what I'm doing, but at least Volourn no longer stands alone. ::honorblade::



If at first you don't succeed...same strategy as last time. VD grabs the ball, got to get at least one Gutter Runner deep on their end and go for the pass. This time I at least give my passer a couple of token defenders.



They Blitz on VD, but can only push him back, and elsewhere, Shuma nails a human trying to sneak around him.



Meanwhile across field, Skyway makes a break down the line and Racofer pushes away the one man sent to block him. One thing I have to love about the Skaven after playing the Dwarves for so long - even their "slow" players are fucking fast.



Same guy tries to knock down VD again, and VD sends him to the ground.



Google Image Search has a thing for asians. Anyway, this allows VD to get a lot closer to Skyway for the pass, and...



SUCCESS! Apparently, the key to passing is to be about 5 feet away. Unless you're the AI, who always seem to roll 6 on passes that cover 3/4ths of the field.

At this point, there's nothing to stop me from...



Despite my disastrous opening drive, I'm back in the game. Not much time left in this half, so I just have to hold them off and then keep them from scoring on their drive.



I line my team up in an aggressive Wall formation, since I only have to hold them for two runs. It's a tiny bit risky, but...



...in a shocking change of pace, nothing goes horribly wrong, and we're at half time.



I set up a somewhat deep defense. Against passing teams like humans, my primary goal is to keep their catchers bleeding on the ground while waiting for an opening against the thrower. At least, this worked for the Dwarves, and so far I don't see any reason to play the Skaven differently.



Their opening offensive is pretty effective. Volly's rematch with the Ogre goes as one might predict, and worse, the first injury of the game is against my team - Murrow is down. Luckily, he's just out for the game, but I'm starting to lose heart.



Vengeance! Anthony Davis sends a human to the sidelines.



Their thrower is making a break for the right side of the field. He's pretty open, so if I can just get someone over there, I should be able to end their possession pretty quickly...



...unless they form a 3-man wall, effectively blocking me off from any direct route. The only thing to do now is charge through them and hope to get to the Thrower before he finds an open receiver. At this point I'm pretty convinced it's just a matter of time until they score, as the Skaven aren't the best at breaking through a wall, but if the Codex has taught me anything, it is to spit in the face of logic and reason.



DEATH! And surprisingly, not my own. WhiskeyWolf, angry at his inability to reach the ball holder, grinds the closest human into the pitch. Morale rises.



I begin my assault against the wall, and another human player decides it's a good time to take a nap.



After a few turns, pretty much every player on the field is gathered around the ball carrier. Kingcomrade, bored, decides it's time for a nap. However, Anthony Davis is finally able to Blitz around and take the Thrower 1 on 1. He is a Blitzer, so it should be an easy knock down...



...fuck. Luckily, next turn, Racofer has a shot. He has to Blitz and make a single dodge roll, but he's a fucking Skaven! I can do this!



Jesus. Who is this guy?





Finally, DU gets a 2-white-dice Blitz against the carrier. Third time's the charm, right?



Fuck yeah it is. DU redeems himself for his Dwarf-like throwing accuracy by doing what two Blitzers could not, and sending the ball thrower to the ground. With the ball out of bounds, this means it will randomly be thrown back on field...which could be fantastic or terrible.



Of course, it ends up far away from the large group, on my side of the field. Brother None is close enough to grab it without having to make a dodge roll, but fails the pick-up and has to re-roll...



...damn skippy. He makes the re-roll and heads up the right side with little left to challenge him. What looked like a guaranteed tie may turn out to be a win after all. Just gotta hold the humans off for two more turns...



Early into their next turn, a human tries to sneak around and takes a trip to the pitch. This leaves Brother None with a free turn to get as far away as possible. I neglect to make any Go For It rolls at the moment, hoping I can reach the end zone before the game ends without them.



I spend the next turn keeping the humans down, and I have one more shot to win. Just gotta make one Go For It and I'm golden.



Ding, motherfucker. This is where I was won over on the Skaven. There's no way a Dwarf team could've made that sort of turn-around - they just can't cross the field fast enough. Satisfying.



Pretty good match overall. That is to say, I snuck by with a win, none of my players are dead, and even more surprisingly, all of them should be around for the next game.



Racofer is MVP because...sure, why not?



Fifty thousand gold closer to our pet Rat Ogre. Next match is against the Dwarves. Just gotta outrun the little fuckers and hope I can score a few times before they cripple half my team.

Future updates won't be as long, but since this is the first one, I wanted to give a feel for how the Skaven play. Hoping next update will be sometime tomorrow. First one to chime in as joining the team gets the honor of a giant smelly rodent.

Feel free to offer advice on how to develop my team or different strategies to use. As was pretty clear, I sort of stumbled along this last game.

Nice, this should be useful. I've not had any success playing as the nimbler teams, so far. My tactics don't yet stretch beyond clobber the opposition and walk the ball through.

Although the team name should probably have been Codex Furfags, or something along those lines.

Good game!

Sillelak said:

First one to chime in as joining the team gets the honor of a giant smelly rodent.

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Name the Fucker Keeng Ra'at

What no Goblins.

The codex is way more goblin like then rat like.
Still keep it coming.

3 re-rolls but no apothecary? You must not care much for your Skaven's health.

Silellak said:

Pretty good match overall. That is to say, I snuck by with a win, none of my players are dead, and even more surprisingly, all of them should be around for the next game.

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's coz you're playing Hummies. Once you meet up with a mighty blow team, like dwarfs, the numbers start thinning.

PS: pay attention and learn from the info bar. Note how whiskeywolves' earlier dodge rolls were 2+ and 3+ and it's just bad luck that he failed, while racofer has to make two dodge rolls (not one as you though, remember that the first move is also a dodge if you're in a tackle zone), which are 4+ and 5+ (presumably because he has lower AG, though I don't know what all factors into dodge rolls), so it's little wonder racofer failed.

There's only one thing for it: Brother None's codex team vs The Decline!

If you can get your gutter runner a +1 MV and the sprint skill he can score on your first turn of your possession. He will need to be on the line of scrimmage and make a few dodge rolls as well as 3 going for it rolls, but it is possible. I managed to turn around a chaos team game with two of those (one on turn 8, one on turn 9) with my wood elf team.

Brother None said:

3 re-rolls but no apothecary? You must not care much for your Skaven's health.

Silellak said:

Pretty good match overall. That is to say, I snuck by with a win, none of my players are dead, and even more surprisingly, all of them should be around for the next game.

Click to expand...

's coz you're playing Hummies. Once you meet up with a mighty blow team, like dwarfs, the numbers start thinning.

PS: pay attention and learn from the info bar. Note how whiskeywolves' earlier dodge rolls were 2+ and 3+ and it's just bad luck that he failed, while racofer has to make two dodge rolls (not one as you though, remember that the first move is also a dodge if you're in a tackle zone), which are 4+ and 5+ (presumably because he has lower AG, though I don't know what all factors into dodge rolls), so it's little wonder racofer failed.

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Apothecary is a good point. I'll probably buy that before my game vs. the Dwarves, actually...pet Rat Ogre can wait, considering how hard those little bastards can hit.

Usually I pay more attention to the info bar, but I didn't notice Racofer's two dodge rolls. I actually went over the official rule book a few days ago and it's not incredibly clear, but I believe you get a penalty for each tackle zone that overlaps the square you're crossing. Since Racofer was entering two human tackle zones, and has an agility of 3 (meaning he needs a 4+ usually to Dodge), he required a 5+ for the second dodge.

I knew it was risky when I made the move, but I really wanted to bring the ball carrier down before he made a Miracle AI Throw (tm).

In the background of the setting the Skaven are described as a clan-based society in which the number 13 holds important significance.

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Hmm.

Needs more cheerleaders!

Blood Bowl have been released on PSP, a EU version.

Turok said:

Blood Bowl have been released on PSP, a EU version.

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I saw there's a PSP and DS version due to be released. Depending on how scaled-down the DS version is, I might pick it up, as turn-based strategy works pretty well on that handheld. I'm not so sure about the PSP version...Jean d'Arc was alright on it, but I'd prefer the option to use a stylus. I guess I'll see which version has more features, and if I actually care enough to buy it twice.

Finished my second match vs. the dwarves. Will post the write-up a bit later today.

Does this game contain some of the more rediculous contraptions, such as a the dwarven death roller and goblin pogo?

Destroid said:

Does this game contain some of the more rediculous contraptions, such as a the dwarven death roller and goblin pogo?

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I know the Death Roller is in, as I have (and use to great effectiveness) one on my Dwarven team. Became especially nasty with Block and Multiple Blocking.

I just checked a pre-built Goblin team and confirmed they do have a Goblin Pogo. My guess is all races' "secret weapons" have been implemented.

Silellak said:

Destroid said:

Does this game contain some of the more rediculous contraptions, such as a the dwarven death roller and goblin pogo?

Click to expand...

I know the Death Roller is in, as I have (and use to great effectiveness) one on my Dwarven team. Became especially nasty with Block and Multiple Blocking.

I just checked a pre-built Goblin team and confirmed they do have a Goblin Pogo. My guess is all races' "secret weapons" have been implemented.

Click to expand...

Nope. The Goblin bombardier is missing.

Yeah, Deathroller, goblin pogo, goblin chainsaw, goblin ball and chain are in.

Apparently, the key to passing is to be about 5 feet away. Unless you're the AI, who always seem to roll 6 on passes that cover 3/4ths of the field.

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This is the key to understanding (and winning) BloodBowl.
If the ai needs a 4+, it's gonna succeed. If you need a 2+ you better have a fucking reroll.

Should get a Codex league going, I don't have the game yet but I intend to get it soon.

Rat ogre rat ogre rat ogre rat ogre...

'Ey coach.

Yes, peon?

Think maybe we could buy an apothecary? We're up against the Dwarves next.

A what? And no. Shut up.

Apothec--healer. To, you know? Heal us? Keep us from dying and having to get replaced?

This matters to me why? I'll just buy new ones of you.

The cheapest player costs more than the apothecary. It will pay for itself. Then you can buy as many retarded rat ogres as you want. Well, technically, the game only lets you buy one, but you get the idea.

[Intelligence] So...the apothecary costs less than the cheapest player, and will pay for itself by keeping you worthless faggots alive?

...right.



Brilliant. I'm glad I thought of it.

Alright, so, we've got an apothecary before our match with the Dwarves. Any guesses on how long into the match until it proves to be a worthwhile investment?

Looks like I only had 'class' labels on rather than names for this match. Sorry about that. Would be nice if the setting didn't reset between every game.



Here's the opposing team. They have one injured Blocker who is a bit slower than the rest, but this isn't really a big deal because they're already fucking slow to begin with. It will be just enough to get a little inducement money, which they spend on an extra team re-roll. Nothing too exciting.



Game on. I choose to receive, and put a weak wall around my Thrower while trying to get my Gutter Runners down field. On reflection, it probably would've been best to have them all form a single line rather than the X. Anyway, Dwarf turn. First block and...





...holy fuck. That's one way to set the tone for the match. Luckily, my investment proves worthwhile...



The Honorblade lives to fight another day!



Splat. The one Gutter Runner I'd snuck past the line gets slammed out of bounds and KO'd by the crowd. This was my own damn fault for leaving him so close to the line. Ah well. This is going...about how I expected a match against the Dwarves to go.



Fortunately, I am able to hand the ball off to another Runner, and a pair of them sneak through the chaos, leaving a Dwarven Runner as the only thing between them and the end zone.



On a side note: notice this Dwarven Blitzer in the far right corner standing alone? As Brother None pointed out in his LP...I'm pretty sure this is the AI setting up a receiver in case of a turn-over. Which is fine, I suppose...except there's no way the Dwarves could ever hope to make, let alone catch, that sort of pass. Ah well. Will be interesting to see if this AI "feature" is patched out.



Shuma goes down for our third injury of the match. 2 turns in.



Fortunately, a single Dwarven runner is no real obstacle...



My Kung Fu is greater than yours.



Gratuitous cheerleader shot, as requested. Don't say I never did anything for you fuckers.



One of the more interesting (and potentially game-altering) kick-off events. Fans rush the field and smash the players, with the more popular team having the advantage. Result:



Three downed Dwarves, including one of their Runners. Not really a big deal.

My primary goal here is just to keep them from scoring. They are slow enough that it shouldn't be a big problem, but forcing a turn-over is secondary. Still, only 3 turns in, they certainly could cross the field, eventually.



This is the strategy I was a bit worried about (and the one I use myself). They've formed a decent wall around their ball carrier, and the Skaven aren't really cut out for breaking through that easily. Murrow goes down, and they continue to grind their way down the left side of the pitch. Their ball carrier is actually a Blocker though - the slowest of an already-slow team. So, I'm not all that worried.



One of their Runnres stops for a nap, as the Dwarves (slowly) try to move around the line. We're almost at half-time, and it's basically impossible for them to score at this point. Unless they go for a long-shot pass...







...which they do, and fail miserably, ending the half. Notice that both the catch and the launch roll required a 6. I've never seen a Dwarf team try to pass, so they must've been pretty desperate.



Second half. My kick goes out of bounds, so they give their ball to a front-line Blitzer. This is both good and bad, because I can easily run back a turn-over in 2 turns, but bad because it means they also have less distance to go to score - a big deal when you move that slow.

They're using the same strategy as before, but on the right side of the pitch. My goal here is to keep pressure on the ball holder and wait until a mistake is made. It doesn't help that I'm still down 2 players.



One of their Blitzers on the left side goes down, but still no casualties.



Much better. One of their Runners guarding the ball carrier goes down, and is out for the next game.



The Blitzer makes a break for it. This is my chance, I double team him with a Gutter Runner and a Blitzer to give me a 2-white-dice roll, my best chance of bringing him down.



Good night. The ball bounces for awhile, and eventually finds its way to Anthony Davis.



One of their blocks failed, giving me a chance to make a break for it, assuming I can make the initial dodge. Even my Blitzers are faster than all of the Dwarf team.



Success. Touchdown's pretty much guaranteed at this point. When playing the Dwarves, I would've typically held off going into the endzone for as long as possible as to cause as much pain to the other team as possible. With the Skaven, though, I want the exact opposite.



Bam. The game is over at this point. There's no physical way the Dwarves can move fast enough to score 2 points in 2 turns.



To add insult to injury, I manage to send the ball deep into their territory. You know what this means? Normally with a Dwarven team, I'd go for as many knockdowns as possible, but with the Skaven - it's time to start fouling.



Party around the Blocker and everyone's invited.



Whoops. Volourn comes to join the fun and...fails his dodge. Another injury for them, this time a permanent loss of 1 movement. Not too horrible since he's a lineman, but it makes him first up for replacement by our pet Rat Ogre.

Sorry, Volly. I guess those Dwarves just aren't Bioware fans.



Despite five Skaven stomping on this fucking Dwarf, I can't pull off more than a Stun. Look at the poor group of Dwarves, so alone, so without any chance of getting anywhere near my endzone.



Game over. Not too bad, only one permanent injury. My biggest fear was managing to win, but ending up with 3 or more permanent injuries/deaths.



First level-up on the team is our MVP, WhiskeyWolf, a Gutter Runner. I debated between Sprinter, Catcher, and Block, but ended up going with Block to make him a big harder to bring down. Between Dodge and Block, only a "Defender Down" roll can take him down, unless the attacker has Tackle - as many of the Dwarves do, but not that many of the other races bother to pick-up.

Next match is vs. another Skaven team. I imagine this will be similar to playing against the humans, but we'll see.

Next update once we reach page 2!

No Jasede player for a skaven team?

Nice. Don't forget to put up the team individual scores at the end, always fun to see en totalis who tackled and who got tackled how much. I can see it's Anthony Davis who made the second TD, but no idea who made the first. It's half the fun in naming 'em Codexers, that.

Skavens are basically faster, slightly more specialized humans. Don't underestimate how strong a line of Stormvermin with a Rat Ogre can be, though. Stormvermin all have the block skill, and Rat Ogre are big and tough, so they can do a lot of damage, usually at the center.

Gutter Runners are annoying and go down easy. The only time I really had problems with a gutter runner was when he had the foul appearance mutation. If you get a chance to pick it up, do so, it's an absolutely brilliant skill to avoid blocks (and tackles, I think)

Skaven? I approve.

gotta reach page 2, aint we?

Sorry SRS, by popular request I'm gonna have to name the Rat Ogre after Jasede.

Brother None said:

Nice. Don't forget to put up the team individual scores at the end, always fun to see en totalis who tackled and who got tackled how much. I can see it's Anthony Davis who made the second TD, but no idea who made the first. It's half the fun in naming 'em Codexers, that.

Gutter Runners are annoying and go down easy. The only time I really had problems with a gutter runner was when he had the foul appearance mutation. If you get a chance to pick it up, do so, it's an absolutely brilliant skill to avoid blocks (and tackles, I think)

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Good call, I'd been forgetting to show the stats screen after, but I'll make sure to do so for all future games.

And yeah, I saw a Gutter Runner with Foul Appearance Mutation when playing my Dwarven team, and I'll definitely incorporate it once I have the option. The Skaven team I'm playing chose perhaps the dumbest possible option for their Level 2 Gutter Runner...I'll show it to you all next round.