koadah

Joined: Mar 30, 2005
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  Posted:
Sep 07, 2025 - 11:29 |
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| Baron-Greenback wrote: | | I see what you're saying Matt, but similarly it is conceptually ridiculous that a professional sports player can't pick up a ball at rest with nobody near them. I've never seen that happen on a rugby pitch. |
Never seen it? How often is the ball actually at rest. Just laying there. I don't watch much rugby. So you tell me.
I watch more American Football than rugby. The game that BB is more influenced by.
Kick off returns are muffed. Mainly because players don't have time to wait for the ball to come to rest. They'll have a hoard of opposing players charging towards them.
They may also be thinking of where they should run. Though of course they should secure the ball first.
Most players are told to not even try to pick up a loose ball. Just fall on it and secure possession.
American football and rugby are not turn based.
Players will try to catch the ball while it is in the air because once it bounces, it could go anywhere.
That is what I think the old rules are influenced by.
The new rule might make it a "better" game for some, but for me it goes against the old "BB spirit" and is another nail in the coffin of my interest.
But of course, everything was better in my day. Even the polio and diptheria  |
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Official + Secret League rosters, old style skill progression, NO re-draft OR full 2016 rules. OR... 4000TV All Star Bowl - ALWAYS recruiting!
Last edited by koadah on Sep 07, 2025; edited 1 time in total |
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MattDakka

Joined: Oct 09, 2007
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  Posted:
Sep 07, 2025 - 11:55 |
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| Baron-Greenback wrote: | | I see what you're saying Matt, but similarly it is conceptually ridiculous that a professional sports player can't pick up a ball at rest with nobody near them. |
Well, in real sports there are no Zombies and Skeletons trying to pick up a ball but, if there were, it would not be a big imagination's stretch figuring that they would likely struggle to pick the ball up.
In real sports there are no spiked balls either, harder to handle than normal ones. A ball could have been greased, in Blood Bowl the balls are not always normal ones, they could have been replaced by special ones.
Do you think that it's normal and logical that an Elf without Sure Hands picks the ball as easily as a Zombie, even if with a Secure the ball action?
I don't think it's very consistent. Zombies are supposed to be clumsy and they should struggle to pick the ball up, for sure more than an Elf.
The AG stat got less valuable because it's not used when passing, now the Secure the ball is another nerf to AG, because you don't need to have AG 2+ to pick the ball up reliably. Even a Zombie or a Nurgle's Rotter can do it.
Moreover, Secure the ball makes Sure Hands less necessary than now, thus speeding up the development (because you can skip Sure Hands to take a stat or a skill). Speeding up the development is a step towards more minmaxed ball carriers, which is a negative thing.
With a +1 modifier a Human would pick the ball up on a 2+, a Zombie or a Rotter on a 3+.
Humans (who are the closest-to-real-football players) would be able to pick the ball almost surely (in terms of best odds on a D6), while Zombies, Skeletons and Rotters on a 3+, which sounds to me reliable enough for those clumsy players.
With 2+ for everybody there is no difference. |
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Lokragen
Joined: Aug 20, 2015
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  Posted:
Sep 07, 2025 - 12:58 |
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You've said it all. It's true that people forget that Blood Bowl simulates a real-time match every turn.
Frankly, if you protect the ball well, it generally goes very well.
It just lowers the skill cap of the game. If it allows less experienced players to challenge themselves, why not, but not if it unbalances the Bash/Agi.
However, a rule that allows a +1 for the third ball pick-up would be a good idea if no one is within two square of the ball boy. |
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MattDakka

Joined: Oct 09, 2007
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  Posted:
Sep 07, 2025 - 13:34 |
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| koadah wrote: |
The new rule might make it a "better" game for some, but for me it goes against the old "BB spirit" and is another nail in the coffin of my interest. |
To be honest, in Blood Bowl second edition the ball was automatically picked up with no die roll.
Page 5 of 2nd ed. Rules: "If a player moves into a square in which the football is lying, they may pick it up, and - if they wish and are able - carry on moving."
So, we could say that Secure the ball is a step closer to that old "BB spirit".
The pick up roll was added in third edition, more recently.
That said, while I think that the automatic pick up is bad, on the other hand it should not be as hard as a 3+ for a player with AG 3+ taking their time to pick the ball up with a Secure the ball action.
2+ seems a good compromise. Not automatic, but easy and reliable enough. |
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koadah

Joined: Mar 30, 2005
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  Posted:
Sep 07, 2025 - 14:45 |
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King_Ghidra

Joined: Sep 14, 2009
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  Posted:
Sep 10, 2025 - 10:50 |
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| Sp00keh wrote: |
Lets say they just crush all the 0-4 down to 0-2 |
I don't think this is what's been speculated, it's that some 0-4's will go to 0-2 based on the sprues.
So Orcs would go to 2 Blitzers but keep 4 Big Un's. The sprues are driving the change, not some abstract concept. |
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Sp00keh

Joined: Dec 06, 2011
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  Posted:
Sep 10, 2025 - 11:31 |
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Yea, thats why i listed all the current 0-4's out, and noted where they already give u 4 in the box, as I assume those ones wouldn't change
The potential changes I'm worried about are those that're currently 0-4 on roster but 2 in the box
"Orcs would go to 2 Blitzers but keep 4 Big Un's"
but orc box only has 2 blitzers 2 biguns tho |
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King_Ghidra

Joined: Sep 14, 2009
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  Posted:
Sep 11, 2025 - 14:48 |
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Sorry my bad I completely forgot that re Orcs, because I bought the booster!
Well, yeah, would be very rough for them. |
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Carthage
Joined: Mar 18, 2021
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  Posted:
Sep 11, 2025 - 17:25 |
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Oh no, an A tier bash team that features extremely high reliability loses a little bit of reliability.
I think Orcs would still be fine in the environment where they are forced to 0-2 positional because their linemen are still some of the best in the game for price. The only reason it may not feel that way is that they have so many positionals that are also great value that you don't end up with space to field many of the lineorcs. |
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Sp00keh

Joined: Dec 06, 2011
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  Posted:
Sep 11, 2025 - 17:54 |
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And DE, and Humans, and Skaven, and so on
It's (potentially) game-balance to suit commercial decisions, is why i dont like it |
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Jayward

Joined: Dec 22, 2020
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  Posted:
Sep 11, 2025 - 17:59 |
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I think losing 50% of the players that are actually any good on an Orc team represents more than a little bit of reliability!
But let's see what comes. If we ever get any more news. There's been 8 Warhammer Community articles on Chaos Dwarves and one on a shipping container since the new season was announced, so it doesn't feel like BB is high on the priority list! XD |
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Sp00keh

Joined: Dec 06, 2011
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  Posted:
Sep 11, 2025 - 20:46 |
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To be fair the shipping container is very nice |
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Burgraph
Joined: Apr 21, 2024
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  Posted:
Sep 20, 2025 - 03:48 |
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Would be extremely excited for plastic High Elves, honestly couldn't think of any changes I'd make to the roster except maybe giving the Catchers some lind of Leap buff. Would be extremely disappointed if roster changes happened to match the boxes for sales |
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Baron-Greenback
Joined: Sep 30, 2022
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  Posted:
Sep 20, 2025 - 07:43 |
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Nurgle would be even more terrible than they already are with 2 beastmen. |
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Jayward

Joined: Dec 22, 2020
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  Posted:
Sep 20, 2025 - 11:37 |
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Obviously High Elf Catchers will get Claw because they have lion mittens  |
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