As a new rules skeptic, I'd love to hear more about your thoughts on the latest edition!
Love the players, by the way!
Thanks for the compliments.
I can only comment on the differences from jumping to the 2020 edition from the old LRB as I never played the 2016 edition and do not know what it introduced if anything. I agree that historically GW seem to have changed rules for the sake of change in some of their games over the years however I think that the changes to Blood Bowl have been subtle and very worthwhile.
The core of the game is essentially the same as it used to be. Anyone who played the old version of the rules would have no problem playing a game of the new edition. Movement, blocking, dodging, blitzing, picking up the ball, passing etc etc are all exactly the same as they used to be. It is the things around these core concepts that have been improved. My top picks are as follows:
Clearing up of the player stats. Some stats (Agility, Passing, Armour Value) now have a target value rather than a stat value. For instance the AG of a Dark Elf Lineman is now 2+, nice and simple. Before modifiers the player needs to roll a 2+ to perform an action requiring an agility roll such as performing a dodge or picking up the ball. Compare this to the the old nonsense; my Dark Elf Lineman has an AG of 4, so we look on a table for AG 4 and see that to make a successful agility roll he needs to roll a 3+ to pick up the ball. But then we look at the modifiers and he gets a +1 to the roll for attempting to pick the ball up. Excuse me what? This simple change has cut out a step and made the game easier for new players to grasp.
The addition of a dedicated passing stat rather that just using the players AG. This, in my opinion is the best update to the rules. It stops agile teams like Elves being able to throw the ball around the pitch care free with any player they fancy. Very flavourful also with passing being a specialised skill that only certain players on the team are good at.
The changes to player improvement where you can save up SPP to buy secondary skills or characteristic improvements rather than having to hope you roll a double.
The after game winnings where both teams get winnings based on a share of the gate with extra winnings for touchdowns scored. This is clearly better than the old system where the losing team could easily get only 10 or 20,000 gold following the match.
There are some other pretty minor changes. They've eliminated the Claw, Mighty Blow, Piling On combo nonsense. The skills that have been added to the game seem pretty fair. The teams seem more balanced than they used to and I love that they've added rosters for six out of production teams in their free Teams of Legend PDF. Also there is no more losing a re-roll for forgetting to move your turn marker and no turn time limit (not that we used those two rules anyway)
So that's my general thoughts on the newest rules. I still think Blood Bowl offers a cracking balance between skill, chance, fun and seriousness that a lot of other games could learn from.
Welcome, Guest. Please 
April 25, 2025, 03:46:03 AM
January 11, 2014, 05:49:32 AM