... As well as some stand-in Veer-Myn of which I unfortunately have no pictures of.
What can I say? I absolutely love this game! It's fast, it's fun, it's clever and it's immersive! It's an accquired taste, sure, but to me it has beaten Blood Bowl by a mile or two as far as actual gameplay goes.
It is not that I'll bash on Blood Bowl or anything like that - it's comparing appels and oranges as far as I am concerned as they are two very distinct games, with the only overlap being the general idea (fantasy sport wargame), some of the races (orx and dwarves especially) and that you roll dice. Where BB takes its inspiration from Rugby and American Football, DB instead takes its inspiration from Basketball, Handball and Speedball II - making it more about plays, moves, and the occasional jawbreaker than about maintaining a cage around the ball.
Yes, that is indeed an Marauder Guard that was taken down by a Jack, none the less!
To me, as you might have guessed, then it has really got me stoked on playing a lot of games and try out various teams, plays and tactics and what have you. Partly because it is, for now, somewhat unmarked territory with no fixed dogma regarding team set-up as well as line-ups, as well as the possibility for it to never be so.
As the die rolls fluctuate a lot, with the roll of a 6 being "wild" and thus exploding, you've set up for a game in which you can never be that sure of what's going to happen, a bit like calculated anarchy. Sure, you can play it safe for as long as possible, making sure bet moves and not pushing the boundaries - but as soon as you see that magical opening in the opposing teams line-up, then you can swoop in and complete a three-Striker-pass that will end up scoring the final 4 points - on a single die roll of 4+ - that will win you the match by the landslide! And that, in essense is what makes this game so great; you never really know what to expect!
The man of the match; Corporation Striker #3 in an earlier game - he alone managed to score two 4-pointers during a single match, needing to roll 4+ on a single die!
ReplyDeleteIm glad to see more people enjoying DreadBall :)
I have played very many games of Blood Bowl over the years and while I have enjoyed most of them, DreadBall has taken over that slot for me for a few reasons. Amongst other things the game rules are clean and the the play time short.
What team do you have lined up next? I have robots partly assembled to do next. That will be my sixth team finished :)
I'm head over heels with this game, so I'm glad that I'm not alone in my facination :)
DeleteI really like the short play time as well; Duncan, who I played these games against, was impressed that we managed to play no less than 3 matches in the space of a single evening; while BB has its merits, it can't beat that speed :)
Well - I'm short on funds this month, so there won't be any new teams till next month; but I'm hoping to get a Dwarven team as well as the Robots - got some plans that involves metallic paints for both these teams :)
Great!
ReplyDeleteThe Z'zor have landed here now and I'm fairly certain I'll have them ready for Tuesday. But, boy, those models are small!
Glad to hear it! Had a match against them last night; O.C. Comets vs. Black Bug Spray; was a great match!
DeleteAnd yes, they're not exactly your average 32mm Apocalypse Epic Heroic scale :D