What is Blitz Bowl?? It is a spin off of Blood Bowl - so let's start with what is Blood Bowl? As I understand it, in the Old World of Warhammer Fantasy lore - after a dwarf found an old tome about the god Nuffle and showed it to an orc, Blood Bowl become the way rival races, cities and realms in the Old World resolve their disputes and fought their wars. To the orcs, humans, dwarfs, halflings, ogres and so on of this fantasy world, it is a kind of ritual, dedicated to Nuffle who is the god of Blood Bowl. The rules set forth by the god are the reason there are only 11 warriors (or players) allowed on the battlefield (or pitch) at any one time – that’s because it is Nuffle’s sacred number.
So now back to how Blitz Bowl fits into this lore. Blitz Bowl is a sort of try out league for Blood Bowl, with aspiring players showing off their talents on a smaller field with fewer team members on the pitch. A blurb about "The Crush" in the original rulebook for Blood Bowl talks about how wanna be Blood Bowl-ers would literally crush themselves and each other to get through a door at the end of a gymnasium, and those who made it through the door were the draftees into Blood Bowl! Blitz Bowl makes that process into a game into itself.
Scoring and team cohesion are important, but so is showing off what you can do as an individual, and the the rules and scoring mechanisms in the game are adjusted for that. I'm hoping the faster, open game will interest my wife in the long-term, who to date has not been impressed with Blood Bowl, Dread Ball, or Kaos Ball, but has had fun with Blood Bowl: Team Manager and the first couple of games of Blitz Bowl.
Outside of the lore, the game is apparently a boiled down and refined version of the original creators vision of the game - and I like it. I hope league or expanded skill rules come out, but for now I'm very happy with playing this simpler straight forward and very quick version. I have had dynamic, explosive, sad, hilarious and downright fun moments with this game. The tight time and field constraints mean there is always a tension - and the actions are well balanced. The cards give you constant incentives and a nice bonus for achieving things through out the game.
I have huge nostalgia for Blood Bowl, and for the modelling involved. This is a caveat that will not appeal to everyone. I love the models, I've loved them since the 80's and those models are no where near as posed and full of action as the current generation. There is a challenge to the modelling of some of the teams, and the painting is always something to rise to, and not for everyone. If you are new to painting, give it a shot! I predict you will be pleased with the results.
The game is great, but do not expect Blood Bowl - it is its own flavor and I for one enjoy it. Great beer and dice game, not a campaign or deep thinking game.
UPDATE - Jen has really been pleased with this game. We are 10 games in and I have painted up 4 teams, and I am still going... someday a league will be played I'm sure... I hope to bring it to Extra Life this fall - assuming we can do that sort of thing by then. :) So, success! Fun is the best thing to have, isn't it?
Further inspiration - this site has me thinking - custom terrain?
Blitz Bowl custom terrain
Alternate match types
Scoring and team cohesion are important, but so is showing off what you can do as an individual, and the the rules and scoring mechanisms in the game are adjusted for that. I'm hoping the faster, open game will interest my wife in the long-term, who to date has not been impressed with Blood Bowl, Dread Ball, or Kaos Ball, but has had fun with Blood Bowl: Team Manager and the first couple of games of Blitz Bowl.
Outside of the lore, the game is apparently a boiled down and refined version of the original creators vision of the game - and I like it. I hope league or expanded skill rules come out, but for now I'm very happy with playing this simpler straight forward and very quick version. I have had dynamic, explosive, sad, hilarious and downright fun moments with this game. The tight time and field constraints mean there is always a tension - and the actions are well balanced. The cards give you constant incentives and a nice bonus for achieving things through out the game.
I have huge nostalgia for Blood Bowl, and for the modelling involved. This is a caveat that will not appeal to everyone. I love the models, I've loved them since the 80's and those models are no where near as posed and full of action as the current generation. There is a challenge to the modelling of some of the teams, and the painting is always something to rise to, and not for everyone. If you are new to painting, give it a shot! I predict you will be pleased with the results.
The game is great, but do not expect Blood Bowl - it is its own flavor and I for one enjoy it. Great beer and dice game, not a campaign or deep thinking game.
UPDATE - Jen has really been pleased with this game. We are 10 games in and I have painted up 4 teams, and I am still going... someday a league will be played I'm sure... I hope to bring it to Extra Life this fall - assuming we can do that sort of thing by then. :) So, success! Fun is the best thing to have, isn't it?
Further inspiration - this site has me thinking - custom terrain?
Blitz Bowl custom terrain
Alternate match types
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