We got home from vacation on Saturday, and because I just couldn't wait any longer, Sunday saw my first learning game of Blitz Bowl. Because it was a learning game, I consider it more of a scrimmage or pre-season type of affair.
My son was busy, so it was a solitaire outing, and I was glad to find the game plays well this way.
Blitz Bowl is basically IGO-UGO (limited to three actions each per turn) although if you claim a Challenge card, some bonus plays (on the back of the Challenge cards) allow for an interruption, there is no hidden deployment, there are limited number of actions a player can take (the miniature,the person playing the game is called a Coach) and the outcomes of some of them are dependent on a die roll.
Most helpful of all to a solitaire player, I think, is the randomized behavior of the ball in the case of a fumble or bad pass or when a player moves into a square with the ball as a result of a push, sidestep, or anything other than a movement. It's difficult to play for every contingency in that case.
While I have heard that compared to Blood Bowl differentiation between teams and players on a team are limited, I felt like there were enough differences to be interesting. With repeated play I may feel otherwise, but for now it works. It does keep the mental requirements for learning the special abilities down which I am always grateful for these days!
Finally there are also some interesting/difficult decisions to make.
Very often, I found myself debating whether to bring a player in from Reserve, or try to eek out something with the players on the field. Similarly, it costs an action to stand up a downed figure, and that has to be weighed against the other things you are trying to accomplish (primarily, get the ball if you don't have it and score if you do). And should you take three actions with one player or spread them around?
The game was a lot of fun to play- which, having heard all sorts of negative things about other Games Workshop games, surprised me a little.
It reminded me of a game my friends and I played with a football in our backyards, called "Fumble Rumble" when I was a kid. When we moved when I was a teen, I learned another name for the game in use in that region: "Kill the Man with the Ball" which is pretty apt for a game of Blitz Bowl too.
I'm looking forward to giving it another go with the advanced rules and I'm hoping to pick up some paints next weekend for the Nurgle team, too.
I'm glad to hear that you enjoyed your new game John! The figures look great and there seems to be a lot of variety to the game as you progress!
ReplyDeleteThanks Brad! I also found a set of One Page Rules called Strike Zone which is very similar and has some interesting options in it. Might give those a try eventually too.
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