5punk

Taking this a little further from the disco board discussion, which will fall off the board before long. The proper release PC game has potential to be a nice little 5punky slow burner, fitting in league games inbetween ninja concerts in the hope of one day finishing it. Unfortunately it's untested and expensive.

However, until we decide if we're interested and/or the price comes down, Anham suggested we try FUMBBL, which is a league system that uses a little java version of the game called JBBowl. I've had a look at JBBowl and it looks like an exact replica of the board game, in a little 2D java program. Which is enough to have a taste of it and a little play around before graduating to the 3D shininess of the full price official release. Assuming GW don't notice that more people have started playing JBBowl since Blood Bowl came out and shut it down.

So, anyone interested?

EDIT: http://fumbbl.com/modules.php?op=modloa ... load&cid=3

This isn't bad actually. Feels like I'm a teenager again though, playing a GW game against myself.

Go team!



The Zilla Coldbloods

Now I just need someone to play against.

Anyone?

which division is your team in?

Academy at the moment. Me and Joose are trying to get it to work.

It works!
Its pretty good, actually. My SwampRats are back in action!

What is it?

The disco board discussion seemed to be about painting figurines or something, which I'm not interested in. Is this a computer game, because I am interested in those?

Blood Bowl!

Basically, blood bowl is american football done in the warhammer universe. So the basic idea is the same (ball, two teams, score touchdowns to win), but with added fantasy elements like orcs, the undead, chainsaws, kicking people whilst they are down and the ref isnt looking untill they die, that sort of thing.

Its all very tongue in cheek.

If you mean what kind of game is it: Its a board game, so you take turns to move and there are dice and stuff.

So is the PC game just a 3D respresentation of the board game, like Battle Chess, or is it almost a new game itself like the recent Monopoly was? Will it teach me how to play?

FatherJack wrote:So is the PC game just a 3D respresentation of the board game, like Battle Chess, or is it almost a new game itself like the recent Monopoly was? Will it teach me how to play?

Yes
No
Yes

But it will also cost you £40. What doggers is talking about here is the free java version. It looks shit in comparason, and it does kinda presume you already know what you are doing, but hey, its free.

Alternativley:
http://www.bloodbowlonline.com/LivingRulebook5.pdf

This is the rulebook you get in the boxed game (The proper tabletop version, not the PC game by cyanide), and also the rulebook that this FUMBBL malarky runs off.


Now if you'll excuse me, i'm off to recruit some halflings and treemen for some ball-carrier-flinging shenanigans...

I was talking more about the PC game, I saw that rulebook and thought it looked a bit complex, so was hoping the PC game might ease you into it a bit more gently. That way more 5punkers are likely to play other than those who know the rules already.

FatherJack wrote:I was talking more about the PC game, I saw that rulebook and thought it looked a bit complex, so was hoping the PC game might ease you into it a bit more gently. That way more 5punkers are likely to play other than those who know the rules already.

Yeah, thats what im hoping too. The proper version of the game looks good, but im buggered if im paying £40 to download it when its going to be £25 in most shops in a week or so.

Bargain Bin by Christmas.

Sounds like an emo song...

What we're playing is a 2D java version of the board game. It's an exact representation, but because it uses SCIENCE you don't have to remember all the rules because the computer does it all for you. I've forgotten lots, and I fell into it pretty quickly. You just need to remember what your perks do (ie, dodge lets you move past enemy players, blitz lets you move and tackle in the same turn).

Joose and I played a quick turnover last night and I really enjoyed it. I kicked the ball to him, his Skaven fumbled while trying to pick it up, and my Lizardman Skinks scuttled through his lines to pick up the ball and belt off to a touchdown.

Once I've done a little work I'll make a post on how to get it working, and another on the basic rules you should know.

.

How to get started:

1. Download and install the JBBowl client.

2. Register with FUMBBL.

3. Sign in and click on the HOME icon.

4. Click on Create Team and choose the Academy league.

5. Choose a race and team name.

6. Purchase players, Rerolls, Fan Factor points etc. There are guides to each team here. The guides should explain the importance of the non-player stuff, but I'll do a quick overview later when I do my rules skim.

7. Add a team logo if you like.

8. Submit your team for approval. They don't like sweary or obscene names.

9. Fire up the client. It runs from an executable Java file in the JBBowl directory.

10. Click OPTIONS.

11. Select LRB 2004 from the LRB options pulldown. Untick 'notify turn limit' from game options, make sure 'LRB OFAB' in the LRB section and 'FUMBBL login' in the user options section are ticked. Close the options.

12. Back on FUMBBL, click home again. Click on your team name, then click on the little green R icon, which should take you to a little html chart of your team. Copy the URL.

13. Go back to JBBowl and select client or server, obviously depending on which you are. Whoever you're playing should select the other.

13. Paste the team URL into the team box.

14. The server player needs to tell the client player their IP address (apparently it's displayed in the config box when you select server). The client player should put that in their Host box.

15. Once both players are ready, click Start Game, and you should connect and get to flip to see who kicks off. You're now playing the game!

The official user guide, which contains everything I've said in more detail is here.

Basic game concepts:

The game is basically divided into two halves, and by turnovers. A turnover happens when there's a touchdown or the half ends, and leads to the teams setting up again. During setup there will be an offensive team and a defensive team, which is basically just who starts with the ball.

Setup and kicking
So, the defensive team sets up first, the offensive second. The defensive team the kicks the ball into the offensive team's half. This is where the game proper begins, and where both sides will try to get the ball and get it into the opponent's end zone for a touchdown (as well as trying to injure as many opponents as possible).

Turns
Players take turns in moving and acting. You can, in theory, use every player on the field in your turn, but whenever a roll is failed (or a touchdown scored) your turn is over. This is fundemental to the game, as you have to weigh up each action's odds of success vs reward.

Moving
Players can move through into any empty square, but normally they can't move through a tackle zone. A tackle zone is any square adjacent to an opposing player, so basically you can't move from one square next to an opposing player, to another square adjacent to an opposing player. Exceptions to this are certain perks, most commonly Dodge, which allows a player to move freely through tackle zones at the risk of being tripped.

Blocking
Blocking is effectively attacking an opposing player. Normally this can only be done to adjacent players, and the results are decided on the roll of a number of dice. The results are as follows;

* Arrow - Push back. The opponent takes no damage, but moves back a square to an empty on of the attacker's choice. The attacker may choose to follow it up and move into the vacated square, or stay where they are.

*Bang - Block. I don't know what the icons or results are called, but the result is that the other guy gets put on his arse, or even better KO'd.

*Skull - The opposite of bang, this puts you on your arse. This is bad.

*Bang and Skull - Puts you both down.

*Bang with ! - Puts down the other player as long as they don't have the Dodge skill.

Blitzing
Players with the Blitz ability may move and block on the same turn. Useful for dropping the ball carrier.

Fouling
Any player can choose to foul a prone player and lay in the boot. However, there's always the chance the ref might spot it and send that player off. Fouling can be done after moving.

Hand Off
This is when the ball is passed to an adjacent (friendly) player. That player can then move, allowing much further travel of the ball. Of course, they might drop it...

Pass
Throwing the ball to another player. Always a risky proposition, as there's the chance of the ball not going where it's wanted, or of the catcher missing it. However, it can clear a lot of the field without possibility of being tackled.

Rerolls
Do what they say on the tin - they allow you to reroll a bad die. These cost double after team creation, so it can pay to buy them right off. They can really come in handy when things go hideously wrong. Two or three seems about the norm for starting teams.

Fan Factor (FF)
Fan Factor does a few things, but it is supposed to represent the amount of fans your team has. This has a major impact on the long game - you get more money from the gate at the end of a match. It also affects the weird random events that happen before a kick off, and can take down opposing players if there's a pitch invasion. Idealy you'll want at least 5 or 6.

And that's about it. Obviously there's a lot more depth, but that's the basics you need to play without being at a huge disadvantage. I don't know any more than that, and I did fine against Joose last night. Tonight I hope to trash his Skaven.

Well, the gobbos were tempting, but i went for the extremely expensive dorfs.


The Spuckenoder Swallows are ready to take the field!

There's an an(ham)agram in there somewhere.