f13.net

Bloodbowl is 50% off till 3rd January on Steam!

http://store.steampowered.com/app/58520/?snr=1_4_4__13

Buy it now and be ready for the next F13 season!

And for today only it is 80% off, just in time for Christmas!  Get it for someone you love, but also enjoy seeing irritated and swearing at their monitor.

I gifted it to a friend of mine.  :awesome_for_real:

So I grabbed this on Steam Sale and have played an Exhibition match that I somehow won. I understand the basic mechanics but I still feel like I have no idea what I'm doing. I basically just move whoever has the ball up the field, move most everyone else near him, and try to knock down everyone without getting knocked down first. I made a team online after reading up on it a bit but I came in way under 1250 so I wonder if I'm doing it wrong. What is the best way to become familiar with the finer details of game play? Should I just jump in the feeder league and get my ass kicked?

- Play the tutorial.  The narrator's are annoying/helpful (depending on your humor type and level), but they do help you with the core basics of the game.
- After tutorial, play story mode.  Win or loose, the idea is to teach you the more advanced mechanics of the game by giving you objectives to achieve (such as toss three goblins, block 5 opponents, pass the ball a couple times.
- Read the manual.  At least the first 15 pages.  It's included with the game (Steam, Library, click the game, find the Manual option).  Also here (http://www.games-workshop.com/MEDIA_CustomProductCatalog/m780049a_Blood_Bowl_Competition_Rules.pdf).
- All that done, read Eldaec's sticky for more stuff/tactics.

Bullets 1 and 3 complete so I'll check out the Story mode. Seems like just what I need. Thanks!

In Eldaec's sticky post, and Sky's reply, there is a link to a pdf entitled "The Art of Blocking."  Read that.  Blocking is an essential aspect of the game, even if you're playing a team that blocks less than others, and the faster you understand how it works the better off you'll be.  That pdf explains blocking and assisting better than anything else I've read.  It's only seven pages and has a lot of good illustrations.  A good coach can set themselves up for the most beneficial blocks, but a great coach is one who does so while also making it difficult or impossible for their opponent to get good blocks.

The ai will never be a great opponent for you though.  I haven't lost against the ai in close to a year.  After you know the rules of the game the best thing you can do is play in the Feeder League.  I'm not sure if the D&M tourney is still open to new entries, but if it is, join it.  I'm happy to play new coaches, and I'll even give advice while we play, if you want.

Also, one thing that the ui doesn't tell you and you only get a hint of from the manual, dodging into tackle zones is more difficult than dodging out of them (unless the dodger has stunty).

Live comments and tips in a multiplayer match is helpful too!

Hit me up in steam to a matchmaker game or the feeder league if you applied! :heart:

My steam details are in the sticky

I still play against the AI a fair amount and while it isn't likely to ever beat you, it keeps my skills sharp (particularly the mathy estimating chances of success parts) in the gaps between scheduled matches, lets me try out less popular skills, etc.

Also I can't overstate this, the more practice you get with the shitty UI the better. 200 hours of playing vs. the AI or whatever I've got has beaten most of the UI fuckups out of me.

Thanks guys. I'm going to put a little more time into learning and then I'll join the feeder and enter the fray against real people. My inner nerd is already excited for some turn-based number-crunching!

Playing the story mode will introduce you to many different teams with lots of skills on their players. It's a good idea to play the AI with different teams to find one you like to play.

Just remember that the AI is absolutely terrible -- your goal in such games is to learn the mechanics and maybe some basic tactical stuff (like how to screen, caging, etc.), not to learn through imitation of the opponent and not to build up bad habits based on how often the AI will throw the game away.

Personally I think I learned the most about the game through downloading/watching replays of the OCC divisions, but that's definitely a step 2 after the basic stuff discussed above.