Last night, after a test game of Kill Team, we still had plenty of time. So we got out virago's brand new copy of BlitzBowl.
Virago is a huge fan of BloodBowl and thus went on a journey to get this game. It's a bit of a weird release, because BlitzBowl is part of GW's thrust to get back into toy stores and the high street stores in general. Which is an incredibly clever and applaudable move, because that's where GW belong. If it wasn't for kids spotting the likes of Space Hulk, Space Crusade, HeroQuest, Battle Masters, or BloowBowl many of us wouldn't be here in wargaming and neither would be GW.
My Blood Bowl TeamProblem is that nowadays toy stores are in a problematic situation, so you have to find BlitzBowl in the first place. Apart from that it seems to really pay off to compare prices between possible sources. In the end virago found the game at Gamestop of all places. Yup, seems like going there is an option now, but only for boardgames.
It's a complicated world we live in.
Judging from this release policy I also misjudged BlitzBowl. I had expected it to be a fun little board/card game, kinda like BB Team Manager. Couldn't be further from the truth. It bascially is half a Bloodbowl. Or Dungeonbowl with only one room and a fraction of the rules (and craziness). Apart from that it's same as always: Playing field, spaces, figures (albeit smaller teams with a set number and kinds of players).
Coincidently I had my BB team with me that night, the Orkakringer Schnittaz. They're an incredibly unsuccessful team.
So we did the classic Orcs vs. Humans match-up:
Each side has 3 Linemen, 1 Blitzer, 1 Thrower and a Catcher in case of the human team. The Orcs get a Black Orc instead of the catcher.
The twist to the game is the cards lying next to the board, which get replaced each turn. Touchdowns will get you 3 victory points, but the cards will also get you these. The cards lying out basically work a bit like achievements in video games. They'll ask players to do a successful pass, tackle down an opposing player, get two players into the endzone and so on. If a player manages to do what one of the cards lying out ask for they may take this card and get victory points. On top of that each of the cards has a little bonus on the backside and if you get one you can play it for that bonus later on. So that's another incentive to get these cards.
If the card deck is all played out or if one of the sides is more than 10 points ahead of the other the game ends.
The rules themselves are a bit different to regular Blood Bowl. Each player's turn encompasses 3 actions they may spread out across models or only use them on one model. This of course, along with the fact that the field is pretty small, makes touch-down potentially happen very often, but this won't be enough to win the game at all. It's all about incorporating these cards as well. Still feels like BloodBowl, just in a condensed form. Meaning I got smashed. In(to) a condensed form. :p
But it's a fun little game. I think it's very suited for not only when time's tight, but also for things such as taking the game with you on holidays.