Panda with issues...
Well-Known Member
The Key Skills:
This will be the first in a series of short articles I’ll write on various aspects of blood bowl. Hopefully the less experienced players will get something out of it. The more experienced players will probably have stuff to add that I’ve missed. These articles will only be brief, and will mainly deal with my own opinions and experiences. Far more in depth discussions can be found elsewhere on the internet, for example at the excellent Blood Bowl Tactics.
This article deals with what I consider to be the fundamental and key skills available in blood bowl: Block, Wrestle, Dodge and Tackle. Though there are a myriad of other skills players can start with (and none start with wrestle I believe), these are the skills that really come into play most in the game, particularly early on in leagues.
Block: (General skill)
Block is probably the most important skill in the game. Most teams start with players with access to it (Chaos, Goblins, Lizardmen being the exceptions) in the form of their blitzers, or blitzer equivalents. Indeed, virtually the whole dwarf team comes with block as a stating skill, which makes them very difficult to deal with early in leagues.
A player with block treats a ‘both down’ result on block dice (‘BD’, the red skull with flash symbol) as an opponent down result, without the pushback.
This is beneficial for the following reasons: It reduces the chance of a turnover on a single blocking dice roll to 1 in 6. This makes it easier for your players to knock over opponents (thus allowing you to make more armour break rolls and hopefully cause more injuries, and thus gain Star Player Points (SPP)).
It also has the added bonus of keeping your player on his/her feet, since the ‘BD’ result, when rolled by another player without block will put them down, but not yours. It also protects against other players with block, as in this case, neither player is put down on a ‘BD’ result.
For these reasons, this is a skill that you want certain players to have. Particularly those who do a lot of hitting, or are normally carrying the ball, as it keeps them upright and so makes them less likely to drop the ball if hit.
It may seem like block is a skill that everyone should get, but bear with me, as there are some other factors to consider.
Wrestle: (General Skill)
On first glance, this skill seems like a poor cousin to block:
“This player may use Wrestle when he blocks or is blocked and a ‘Both Down’ result on the Block dice is chosen by either coach. Instead of applying the ‘Both Down’ result, both players are wrestled to the ground. Both players are placed prone in their respective squares even if one or both have the Block skill. Do not make Armour rolls for either player. Use of this skill does not cause a turnover unless the active player was holding the ball.”
But if you think carefully, there are a lot of advantages for wrestle on a player, particularly with certain (typically the faster, speedier) races.
The most important factor with wrestle, is that it can counter the block skill. If a player blocks you with block, and rolls a ‘BD’, you can take him to the ground. If you had also had block, instead of wrestle, you would both still be standing, rather than both on the floor. This is important in several ways: If your opponent blocks you in his turn, you can both go to the floor, and then YOU can stand up and move again in your turn. Players with high movement (elves, skaven) can really benefit from this. The knockdowns do not cause armour rolls, so your player will avoid injury, though at the risk of being fouled. You can chose NOT to use the wrestle skill, which against a player without block blocking you, would result in the other team turning the ball over.
Secondly, if you are the one making the block and your player has wrestle, you can knock down block players. For example, if your opponent has a ball carrier with block, you can blitz him with a wrestle player, and on the roll of a ‘BD’, can take him to the floor, knocking out the ball. If your player had block, instead of wrestle, the same roll would result in no effect.
Think carefully about players’ roles on your team before automatically giving them block as a first skill choice.
Dodge: (Agility)
Dodge is a common skill, and many players start with it. It has 2 distinct benefits.
Firstly, it allows the player who has it to reroll a failed dodge roll whilst moving through an enemy tackle zone (probably helping you to save your team rerolls). You’d think that was beneficial enough, but secondly, on top of this, it also means that the ‘defender stumbles’ result on the block dice (‘DS’, yellow flash with exclamation mark) only counts as a push back.
The effects of the first part of the skill are obvious, but the second part can really help to keep your players on their feet. If you can, adding dodge to a player who also has block means that the only time he will ever be knocked down is with a ‘defender down’ (‘DD’, yellow empty flash symbol) is rolled, thus reducing the chances from 2 in 6 to 1 in 6, unless the opposing player has wrestle.
Tackle: (General)
This is a reactionary skill, used solely to defend against dodge, but is useful nonetheless. All dwarf blockers start with this skill (sickeningly). It negates both parts of the dodge skill, in that dodge players cannot use the dodge skill when in a tackle player’s tackle zone, and that ‘DS’ results work as if the player does not have dodge, I.E. are back to normal.
This is a useful skill when facing very manoeuvrable teams such as elves and skaven, and also goblins, who all start with dodge and can be particularly difficult to put down.
Part of its effect is to make your opponent roll more dice and potentially have to waste rerolls.
Feel free to chime in with comments, or to ask for further clarification if necessary!
This will be the first in a series of short articles I’ll write on various aspects of blood bowl. Hopefully the less experienced players will get something out of it. The more experienced players will probably have stuff to add that I’ve missed. These articles will only be brief, and will mainly deal with my own opinions and experiences. Far more in depth discussions can be found elsewhere on the internet, for example at the excellent Blood Bowl Tactics.
This article deals with what I consider to be the fundamental and key skills available in blood bowl: Block, Wrestle, Dodge and Tackle. Though there are a myriad of other skills players can start with (and none start with wrestle I believe), these are the skills that really come into play most in the game, particularly early on in leagues.
Block: (General skill)
Block is probably the most important skill in the game. Most teams start with players with access to it (Chaos, Goblins, Lizardmen being the exceptions) in the form of their blitzers, or blitzer equivalents. Indeed, virtually the whole dwarf team comes with block as a stating skill, which makes them very difficult to deal with early in leagues.
A player with block treats a ‘both down’ result on block dice (‘BD’, the red skull with flash symbol) as an opponent down result, without the pushback.
This is beneficial for the following reasons: It reduces the chance of a turnover on a single blocking dice roll to 1 in 6. This makes it easier for your players to knock over opponents (thus allowing you to make more armour break rolls and hopefully cause more injuries, and thus gain Star Player Points (SPP)).
It also has the added bonus of keeping your player on his/her feet, since the ‘BD’ result, when rolled by another player without block will put them down, but not yours. It also protects against other players with block, as in this case, neither player is put down on a ‘BD’ result.
For these reasons, this is a skill that you want certain players to have. Particularly those who do a lot of hitting, or are normally carrying the ball, as it keeps them upright and so makes them less likely to drop the ball if hit.
It may seem like block is a skill that everyone should get, but bear with me, as there are some other factors to consider.
Wrestle: (General Skill)
On first glance, this skill seems like a poor cousin to block:
“This player may use Wrestle when he blocks or is blocked and a ‘Both Down’ result on the Block dice is chosen by either coach. Instead of applying the ‘Both Down’ result, both players are wrestled to the ground. Both players are placed prone in their respective squares even if one or both have the Block skill. Do not make Armour rolls for either player. Use of this skill does not cause a turnover unless the active player was holding the ball.”
But if you think carefully, there are a lot of advantages for wrestle on a player, particularly with certain (typically the faster, speedier) races.
The most important factor with wrestle, is that it can counter the block skill. If a player blocks you with block, and rolls a ‘BD’, you can take him to the ground. If you had also had block, instead of wrestle, you would both still be standing, rather than both on the floor. This is important in several ways: If your opponent blocks you in his turn, you can both go to the floor, and then YOU can stand up and move again in your turn. Players with high movement (elves, skaven) can really benefit from this. The knockdowns do not cause armour rolls, so your player will avoid injury, though at the risk of being fouled. You can chose NOT to use the wrestle skill, which against a player without block blocking you, would result in the other team turning the ball over.
Secondly, if you are the one making the block and your player has wrestle, you can knock down block players. For example, if your opponent has a ball carrier with block, you can blitz him with a wrestle player, and on the roll of a ‘BD’, can take him to the floor, knocking out the ball. If your player had block, instead of wrestle, the same roll would result in no effect.
Think carefully about players’ roles on your team before automatically giving them block as a first skill choice.
Dodge: (Agility)
Dodge is a common skill, and many players start with it. It has 2 distinct benefits.
Firstly, it allows the player who has it to reroll a failed dodge roll whilst moving through an enemy tackle zone (probably helping you to save your team rerolls). You’d think that was beneficial enough, but secondly, on top of this, it also means that the ‘defender stumbles’ result on the block dice (‘DS’, yellow flash with exclamation mark) only counts as a push back.
The effects of the first part of the skill are obvious, but the second part can really help to keep your players on their feet. If you can, adding dodge to a player who also has block means that the only time he will ever be knocked down is with a ‘defender down’ (‘DD’, yellow empty flash symbol) is rolled, thus reducing the chances from 2 in 6 to 1 in 6, unless the opposing player has wrestle.
Tackle: (General)
This is a reactionary skill, used solely to defend against dodge, but is useful nonetheless. All dwarf blockers start with this skill (sickeningly). It negates both parts of the dodge skill, in that dodge players cannot use the dodge skill when in a tackle player’s tackle zone, and that ‘DS’ results work as if the player does not have dodge, I.E. are back to normal.
This is a useful skill when facing very manoeuvrable teams such as elves and skaven, and also goblins, who all start with dodge and can be particularly difficult to put down.
Part of its effect is to make your opponent roll more dice and potentially have to waste rerolls.
Feel free to chime in with comments, or to ask for further clarification if necessary!
