Fumbbl Advice

[CaptainBravo]

Hi. I feel motivated to talk about Rerolls and their role in the game. Let's do that thing.

To start off, I've noticed that a couple of teams in the SS13 league were created without Rerolls or with few of them. That's understandable because there's not really a prompt on the Team Roster page that tells you what they are exactly, why they're so important, and how they can be used to swing a game in your favor. A Reroll is an expendable but replenishing resource during a game that lets you redo the result of a dice roll. In most circumstances, you'll probably want to use your Rerolls in order to stop your turn from ending prematurely and giving your opponent a bunch of free actions. But hold on. You need to understand a bit about how the game works and how to use your Rerolls to gain a strategic advantage.

If you're a new Coach and you've played a few games already with low to no Rerolls(0-2), you've probably already experienced frustration with turns ending early. If you're playing a two Reroll team, this is likely to happen early in the latter four turns of a half: on a Dodge roll, a one-die Blitz that rolls a Skull or Both Down, or a two-die Blitz that rolls a combination of Skull and Both down. You may think of this as unavoidable. After all, you only had so many Rerolls, and several turns early on would have ended if you hadn't used your Rerolls on them. This can be true, but often enough new Coaches are taking those actions before doing other critical things during a turn. To understand when using a Reroll is truly important, you must first understand the things that are important to do early in your turn.

Let's have a list with some explanation:

1. Stand your guys up. A player in full color with a single slash through their sprite is laying down. These pieces do not exert Tackle Zones(squares that opposing Players must make rolls to run through), meaning the opposing Coach can run his Players through where they're standing, either to move the ball downfield or to Mark or Blitz your Ball Carrier. Standing dudes up is a free action and cannot fail. There are very few circumstances where you don't want to do this immediately.

2. Go Mark fast Players. A fast Player is a player with Movement 7-9, or a player with Movement 6 if most of your team has Movement 5 or below(think Undead). Most Players with this much Movement will have Strength 3 or below, meaning they will at best be able to throw a 1-die Block against your Player on their turn, and at worst have to make a Dodge roll because your Strength is higher. Either way, you're forcing them to roll dice to free Players up. You don't always want to Mark a Player, but if you're a new Coach who doesn't understand advanced positioning, man-to-man coverage is a safe bet to save yourself from frustration.

3. Start to plan your turn. I know this seems weird to put last, but those previous two things are really their own forethought. When you're new, this is the point in your turn when you want to start thinking about playing the ball or how you can injure as many opposing Players as possible to help with the drive later on. Look around the board. Start and cancel a few Block actions. How many of them were 2-die Blocks? How many of them could be 2-die Blocks with a single assist? Can I Blitz a hole through my opponent's Screens(Players placed three squares apart to maximize Tackle Zones) or Cage(a formation placed at the corners of the Ball Carrier to protect him)? Is it worth it to make Dodge rolls before I Block to gain a better board position? What about after a few Blocks? Run through all of these questions and figure out how to take as many actions as possible that are in your favor.

When you've done all of these things, you can start to take your risky actions during a turn. Throw Blocks, make Dodges, do your Blitz, and vie for position to score or prevent your opponent from scoring. As a general rule, make a Foul the last action in your turn if you plan to do one. It's one of the only actions that can end your turn early but cannot be rerolled. Fouls also don't reward players with SPP when they cause casualties, which can stunt your team's growth if you rely on them to remove players from the field. By all means, Foul every single turn. Fouls are fun! Just save it for the end of your turn. A Foul is much more likely to prevent you from taking other actions than a Block or Dodge is to end your turn early and leave you with no time to Foul.

Alright. Now that we've got that talk out of the way, when is it appropriate to use a Reroll? There are so many rolls to make during a turn, and a lot of them can end it. As a rule of thumb for a new Coach

You should use your Rerolls when:

1. The result of a dice roll will end your turn.

2. The roll you are making was relatively safe. A 2-die Block, a Dodge with an Agility 4 Player, a Pass or Handoff involving Agility 4+ players, a GFI(Go-For-It) done at the end of your turn that will place your Ball Carrier out of Blitzing or Marking range of any opposing Player, or a 1-die Block with a player that has the Block skill. All of these things qualify.

3. Ending your turn at this point will severely compromise your field position. You failed the very first 2-die Block or Dodge you made during a turn? Yes, absolutely reroll that.

There will also be times when you have an obvious and complete advantage on the Pitch. In these situations it's usually more prudent to consider when NOT to use a Reroll.

You should NOT use your rerolls when:

1. You roll a Push against a Player that isn't critical to knock down. Agility 3 or lower Players will always qualify for this distinction if they lack the Dodge skill. Don't risk knocking your own Player down. You can Block that guy again next turn.

2. You roll a Both Down and both Players involved in the Block have the Block skill. This falls in line with #1. If it isn't critical for your strategy to knock that player down, don't risk rerolling a Skull.

3. You fail a non-critical Dodge with an Agility 4- character. It sucks, and it will probably free up at least one opposing Player, but the failed Dodge isn't impeding your plan. Let that guy fall to the ground and keep the drive going next turn.

4. You fail a non-critical Block with an unimportant Player. Double Skulls happen, and it sucks. However, here we're talking about a situation where you have an obvious man or Strength advantage on the Pitch. You throw a 2-die Block and your only option is for your guy to fall down, but the guy you're Blocking is still standing next to your other players. Let him fall, you'll live(he might not).

To sum it all up:

Blood Bowl is all about maximizing the amount of unrisky actions you can take while forcing your opponent to do a bunch of risky rolls himself. Always strive to use your Rerolls only in critical situations so that you can keep playing your turn. It may seem like you're barely even playing the game for yourself by following all of these rules, but I promise you: You will play more Blood Bowl if you stick with these guidelines. Your turns will be longer, and you'll do more things like punching guys and scoring touchdowns. Not to mention there are still plenty of strategies to employ and risks to take while staying firmly within reason. If you don't believe me, go watch any experienced coach play a game. The Fumbbl Cup is on right now while I'm typing this, and all of the matches are fantastic.

Lastly and most importantly: If you ever find yourself becoming bored in the middle of a match, feel free to break every single guideline here. Throw a 2-die uphill(red) Block against a Minotaur, bomb a pass all the way across the Pitch with a possible interception, throw a Foul against a Goblin with your Troll in Tackle Zones with no assists. Waste your Reroll on crap like that. If it ends up succeeding you might just piss your opponent off. That's fun, and maximizing the fun you have killing your opponent's players and doing bullshit things is the most important thing.

[CaptainBravo]

Hi there boys and girls. It's time to talk about those jerks that keep ending your turn at a moment's notice, the ones everyone hates but can't seem to get rid of:

missclicksBIG GUYS

What the heck is a Big Guy?

A Big Guy is a Str 5 or above player with a near equal number of good traits and drawbacks who's there to round out the bash aspect of a team. If you see a player with one of these icons:



That is a Big Guy. Nearly all of them come purchased with a skill called "Loner," which is generally - but not always - their biggest drawback. But what is Loner?

Loner!!

Loner, simply put, is a skill that forces any Big Guy - or journeyman/loner player - that has it to make a 4+ roll when trying to use a Team Reroll. Loner is the reason you want to avoid planning your turns around your Big Guy, because if you fail a critical action you may be unable to reroll it at all. Failing a Loner roll not only prevents your Big Guy from rerolling his action, it also removes a Reroll from your Team Reroll pool. Even worse, Big Guys generally come with secondary negative traits, some of which can stop them from moving at all that turn and even remove their Tackle Zones from the board. A few of these skills even need to overcome Loner to be rerolled. Let's look at them now.

Really Stupid



A Really Stupid player can only act on a 4+ roll at the beginning of their movement - 2+ if a teammate is standing next to them - and loses all tackle zones if they fail the roll. As mentioned above, they will need to overcome the Loner roll if they wish to reroll a failed Really Stupid roll, which will prevent your entire team from rerolling any other action that turn.

Wild Animal



Wild Animal functions similarly to Really Stupid. I'd consider it slightly more reliable because it doesn't rely on the placement of other players to help negate its drawbacks. A player with Wild Animal can only act on a 4+ roll at the beginning of their movement, UNLESS they are are Blocking or Blitzing, which reduces the roll to a 2+. A player that fails his Wild Animal roll still exerts Tackle Zones on the board, unlike Really Stupid players. Comes with the standard drawback of needing to overcome Loner to reroll.

The Rat Ogre here deserves a special mention. The combination of Loner, Wild Animal, and Frenzy results in a piece that is out of place more than any other Big Guy. He's one of the two hardest pieces to play around or skill up, and I would highly recommend leaving him off of a Skaven line-up until you're really comfortable with the game. The Yhetii or Snow Troll also fits this bill. However, his team is stacked with Str 3 and 4, and a LOT of Block, which downplays the necessity of good positioning.

Bone-head



A player with Bone-head fails to move or Block on a roll of 1 at the beginning of their movement, flat out. Like Really Stupid players, they stop exerting Tackle Zones on the board. I'd place this alongside Wild Animal in reliability. While it doesn't rely on teammates or specific actions to function, losing Tackle Zones can really hurt your board placement. Suffers from the same Loner problem as the other skills.

Specific Drawbacks

You may have noticed that five of the player types from the list at the top didn't make it into our previous categories. Despite having Str 5 or higher, these players don't suffer from those specific skills and need to be examined closer to get a feel for their flaws. They follow:

Deathroller



At first glance, this guy looks amazing. Str 7, Break Tackle, Dirty Tackle, Juggernaut, Mighty Blow, Stand Firm, AV 10. He's got a lot to work with, and he can deal a lot of damage. Unfortunately, he's attached to a team that relies on being bland by necessity: Dwarves. A Deathroller is an expensive piece, prohibitively so. Starting with one at team creation can rob you of the ability to stack enough Rerolls, get an Apothecary, and field more than 11 players if you take your other positionals. Worse yet, his first Block or Foul could very well be his last. Dwarves aren't very good at stopping scoring plays early on, and a Deathroller will be banned from the game at the end of a drive or half. A Deathroller is usually not worth a buy at any Team Value. Other pieces on the team can develop to do parts of his job at higher Team Values, and purchasing him early on can cripple the team. A Deathroller rates as one of the worst Big Guys, right alongside the Rat Ogre, for his lack of cost effectiveness and inability to mesh with his team's playstyle.

Fanatic



Another Str 7 piece, the Fanatic, is a solid addition to the Goblin line-up. His downsides are obvious after a bit of play. Though he blocks while moving - which is cool - you can't always choose where he'll move, making him a bit unreliable. On top of that, he has 3 Movement, which can render him moot for a drive if play moves away from his position. If he wants to stay relevant to play as it develops against faster teams, he'll probably have to make GFIs, a risky business when you have AV 7. Like the Deathroller, he'll be banned at the half or the end of a drive. On the flipside, he's a cheap piece. At 70k to start, A Fanatic can be worthwhile to field and skill up.

Treeman



A Treeman is an odd piece. He's found on two teams, Wood Elves and Halflings, and comes with a unique drawback: Take Root. Take Root is a 2+ roll to avoid planting the player's roots into the ground, reducing his movement to 0 for the rest of the drive. To add to that, a Treeman comes with an abysmal 2 Movement, which makes them even harder than Fanatics to keep near play. The Treeman's movement is so low than the GFI roll is moved forward into the standup roll - a 4+ - with no penalty for failure(they will still fail to stand up, but will not injure themselves). It's easy to keep a Treeman out of a drive, and on the Wood Elf team often not worth it to give them the support they need to stay standing. Fast elves need to be doing fast elf things after all. For the Halflings, good news. You can field two of these guys on your roster, and not only do all of your Halflings have the Right Stuff skill needed to be thrown, they're expendable enough to go stand next to them for support. Even stationary, a Treeman has some value to a Halfling drive.

Tomb Guardians



The Tomb Guardians belong to the only team that fields four Big Guys, Khemri! They aren't very fancy, and they aren't meant to be. Tomb Guardians are the core of Khemri's slow, safe play. They form a line of unrivaled front line strength that the team uses to creep its way towards the end zone. Their drawbacks are subtle and can go unnoticed for entire matches. Their Decay skill can end up biting a poor Khemri coach in the ass for games to come if his opponent is lucky. Tomb Guardians make up the entirety of the team's strength advantage, and failing a Regen roll generally puts the team at a disadvantage for the rest of the game, even with lingering KOs or casualties on some of the opponent's minor players. Chiefly, the Tomb Guardians' drawback is that they're so good, so integral to the bash aspect of Khemri play that Khemri cannot afford to be without more than one of them. Until the team is very well developed, it will rely on these guys a lot.

Mummy



Look at this guy! Isn't he cool? Str 5, Mighty Blow, no negative skills! The Mummy is a damn good positional! So what could he possibly have going against him?! Well, mainly it's his low movement. While a Mummy isn't a sitting duck, it's easy to get bash happy with him at low Team Value trying to skill him up. If you aren't careful, you can leave your Mummy stranded, which will get him knocked down easily. Once a Mummy is knocked down, it's usually all he can do the next turn to stand back up. That's if he hasn't been fouled out of the game! Mummies are foul bait thanks to their cost effectiveness. A Mummy's drawback is that he must be played carefully, kept next to his Skeleton or Zombie teammates. You'll also need to be careful not to do risky things like rerolling Pow/Pushes against opposing players that have Dodge. His lack of General skill access on a normal roll makes it hard to get him Block, meaning he'll fall to the ground on a Skull OR a Both Down. And the ground is never a place for your Mummy.

Using your Big Guys

Now that everyone knows the ways Big Guys can fuck up your turn or cost you the game, it's time to think about how to play around those aspects. Like a bad dodge roll, Big Guy skills can hit you out of nowhere. So how do you mitigate bad rolls in these situations?

Playing Carefully

The same way you always do! Learn to save rolls with your Big Guy for the end of your turn when you can. Move guys first, play for the ball, try to blitz elsewhere. Make sure you keep them near the action and next to their teammates. Above all else try to give your Big Guy blocks that, while not critical, are still in your favor on the dice. If your Big Guy and a Blitzer or Block piece are both standing next to two opponents - one with Block and one without - let your Big Guy go for the 2-die on the Blockless piece, then follow up with a safer Block on the other piece. The best way to keep Big Guys from screwing up your turn is to just never give them the chance.

Skilling For Success

You may have noticed from looking at the roster pages that a lot of Big Guys lack diverse skill access. This is a shame, because Big Guys are really made from their skill ups. A good Big Guy will have skills that complement their roles, like Clawpomb for a kill piece, or Guard/Stand Firm for an annoying roadblock. Great Big Guys are ones that have rolled doubles, and have access to skills that can let them overcome their disadvantages.

Block

A fantastic skill, moreso on any Big Guy. Block not only keeps your player safer, it helps them knock down and injure more players. Keeping a Big Guy up and fighting is a key part of most bashy strategies.

Pro

Pro will - on a 4+ roll - let you reroll an action for free, without touching your Team Rerolls. This includes the most detrimental Big Guy skills: Really Stupid, Wild Animal, and Bone-head, and bypasses the Loner roll. If you can get Pro on your Big Guy two or three skill-ups into his development, do it. It makes a huge difference in their impact on the game.

Jump Up

Jump Up allows a player on the ground to roll to start a standard action without wasting any of his Movement Allowance. Helps to mitigate low Movement Allowance on certain pieces, and acts as a foil to Piling On's negative aspect of leaving your kill piece splayed on the ground. A solid third or further skill choice, if available.

The "Just Stand There And Be A Dick" Skills

Exactly as advertised, the following three skills help your Big Guy overcome his negative Skill traits just by standing near opposing players. If your piece has these skills, he may not even need to Block every turn, which helps you avoid losing your Tackle Zones when he screws up his first roll!

Tackle

Tackle cancels the Dodge skill, both when Blocking and when your opponent tries to dodge out of your player's tackle zones. Against faster, mid-high agility teams that prefer the Dodge skill, Tackle can keep the KOs and casualties piling on where otherwise your successful blocks would only amount to pushes.

Tentacles

There are only one or two Big Guys that get Tentacles on a doubles roll, but it's well worth it. Tentacles will help your Big Guy tie up several opposing players by forcing them to make a strength against strength roll to escape with 2d6, hopefully keeping them near enough to make Blocks against turn after turn. A piece with Tentacles will always want Pro to supplement it when available. Losing the Tackle Zones a Tentacles piece exerts is a big no-no.

Prehensile Tail

In the same vein as Tentacles and Tackle, Prehensile Tail will help your Big Guy tie up opposing players. It subtracts 1 from any dodge roll made to escape your player's Tackle Zones. Be careful when stacking these skills. A piece that is too hard to escape from will find himself being blocked down and fouled, often, which can end his career prematurely.

Stat Ups

Lastly we've got the stat ups. Which of them are worth it? What do they get me? Well, it really depends, but I've listed them below in what I feel is their order of viability on a Big Guy.

+St

+St on a St 5 piece is pretty good. It means an extra assist needed to get a safe block on him, plus more opportunities for 2-die and 3-die blocks against opposing players. On a St 6 piece, +St can usually be skipped. The extra benefits usually don't outweigh rounding the player out with skills like Guard or Block.

+MA

+MA is a good choice on a Blitzing piece if it already has critical skills. It can give you that extra bit of go that you need to get an uncontested block on a ball carrier. Or, if your opponent is more experienced and aware, it can alter the way they position their pieces to make it easier for your other Blitzers.

+Ag

+Ag is a no-go on anything that isn't an Ag 2 or annoying roadblock type of piece. Stand Firm/Guard that already has a double roll to nab Dodge is a good bet. Outside of that, pass on this.

+AV

+AV should always be passed on, though in the end this is really up to you. If you play a good positional game and can keep your Big Guy doing his job without exposing him to Claw players, +AV can manage to do work. For me, this is too situational.


Look at what you've already skilled your Big Guy up with and what he started with when pouring over any of these skills or stats. Think about what it is you need him to be doing on your team. It's okay to pass over a double if he still needs another normal skill to really get going.

Just Don't Move Them!

Really, it's fine. If you spot a situation where what you gain from Blitzing with your Big Guy or moving him at all is nothing compared to how bad your board position will be if he fails to even move and loses his tackle zones. . . keep him put! It's the smart play. At the end of the day, you've got at least 10 other players on your roster. Don't feel obligated to force your Big Guy to backpack them every single turn. You'll just end up disappointed when he fails and costs you a touchdown or something.

Big Guys aren't really there to carry a team at low Team Value. They're just a bonus you keep around to help with bash until they've skilled up enough to see use every turn. Believe that wholeheartedly and use them as if it were true. You'll get tons of use out of them over their careers if you do, and as always when you follow good advice, your turns will generally be longer. Good luck on the pitch, and have fun.

[APARTHEID]

I'd like to use this post to remind folks that they're playing a game of FOOTBALL and that throwing bodies into the line of scrimmage can pay off: a catcher and a thrower on top of that werewolf is a lot better than none!

It's amazing what can be accomplished on the field if your team is ready to crumple onto a point at any given time, so put those bodies out there!

There's no glory in going away alive

[Xeram]

Dwarf Advice:

Do not make troll slayers fight enemy trolls.

They will get Troll slayed.

Also always foul Conor every turn.