Thoughts on new Blood Bowl?

[odinsgrandson]

Ah. Well, you can just play Vampires for that sort of feel.


As for the old game not gathering interest- well, I honestly don't see that happening. Sure, the Icepelt rules are available from Cyanide, along with everything you might need to play (dice, boards, etc).

But look at Space Hulk. The demand was there, and they did a great job of it without completely reinventing the rules set.

I don't think they need to reinvent the rules in order to make the game a hit. I think they could just add a few tweaks to the CRP rules and make it work out great.

Basically, they could do what Cyanide are doing with the rules- just tweak them. Otherwise, I think we're in serious danger of chucking the baby out with the bathwater.

[Mr Mystery]

They still need to consider overall sales volumes.

Blood Bowl is a well loved classic of gaming, and to the best of my knowledge stood alone as the only Fantasy Sports game for a long old while.

Those mad keen on it are likely to still have their teams kicking about somewhere, quite possibly lovingly painted and converted, alongside various incarnations of the game (I recently re-procured the Star Players and Compendium books myself).

If it's just a spit and polish job on the last edition, then those existing sets are potentially lost sales, depending on how spangly the new boxed set is.

But, rework the rules and you stand to gain those sales back, and won't really be in a worse position overall as those happy as is won't buy in, just as they wouldn't have needed to buy in if the rules were the same old.

I guess it depends on what the wider community does. If you can get enough people buying the new so it supplants the old on the tournament and league scene, you're onto a winner.

[grimmas]

Yep ultimately for the continued support its does need sales. Of course it being a good game with depth significantly helps achieve this aim. I am minded by a rant that appeared in White Dwarf a number of years back. A very unhappy BB player wrote in to complain about the release of updated Star Players and how this was an affront to him as a customer as he didn't want to buy them (not that he didn't like them just that he didn't want to buy any) a little strange but it does illustrate the difficulties faced.

I would very much agree with Odinsgrandson on the feel of the game though. Bloodbowl always managed to create the feel that every move had consequences and it gave the game real bite I'd like to see that remain.

[Mr Mystery]

Presumbaly Jervis is going to reclaim his baby, so I think we're in safe hands.

Previous rejigs and rewrites have been to smooth out the gaming experience. The Astrogranite version had dozens upon dozens of tables to roll on. Fun in it's way, but distracting from the game play. The Block Dice version did away with most of those, without really changing up the gameplay itself (though the limit of one Blitz per turn made the game a lot harder to play well, as you really needed to plan your moves!)

[odinsgrandson]

Those mad keen on it are likely to still have their teams kicking about somewhere, quite possibly lovingly painted and converted, alongside various incarnations of the game (I recently re-procured the Star Players and Compendium books myself).

If it's just a spit and polish job on the last edition, then those existing sets are potentially lost sales, depending on how spangly the new boxed set is.

Aarg. This is the sort of thing that gets people OUT of the game, not into it.

Right now, they have the opportunity to use the inertia that the older gamers have, and also give us a new edition of the game for everyone to get excited about.


- Old gamers will want the new minis and board if they look great. If they're ugly, they'll stick with Impact, Greebo or Willy minis.

- Make a few small changes to the rules and you're good. Small alterations that keep the experience working the way that it was working before, so that your older gamers have a little something to figure out, but don't feel alienated.

- GW does new versions of old minis all the time. They sell well when the old ones are very old (and GW's blood bowl line is extremely old). Make them all look as good as the Dark Eldar upgrade and you're in good shape.

[Brenlak]

Anyone pick up the new set? Greycup just finished so it's time to crack that rulebook!
The Skaven minis are out of stock on the GW site so that should be a good sign of how many people are interested in playing.

[odinsgrandson]

I was really surprised at the prices on everything.

$100 core game and $35 for a new team? Yes, please. And a $25 expansion book? Where did GW go, and who are these new people?

The rules look like they're preserved just about right- some new tweaks, but not an overhaul. Basically LRB-7. And that's just about perfect in my mind.

From the rumours, it seems that there will be a PDF for all of the "Legacy Teams" to be included (sans Slaan).

Right now, I'm still playing on a custom made board, so I'm not grabbing the new core set right off the bat (I'll wait until I'm through spending all of my money on Kingdom Death, and have some spare time to paint up the new teams).

[Al Shut]

Suprised insn't quite the right word, I'm shocked.

If I'm not mistaken 25€ (or rather 50DM) is what I paid for an additional team 20 years ago.

[odinsgrandson]

Exactly. The 2nd ed teams were all $35.

Also, $35 is what it costs to buy a team from Impact! minis in trollforge plastic (16 man teams in that case).

Those prices... they're just so reasonable. I mean, I feel like they're charging the same price for a team as they do for one stormcast hero.

[Brenlak]

Yeah, who are these people and what did they do with the old GW staff?
Skaven are back in stock on the website, Dwarves sound like they are on the way in Janruary.
On the home front I have had an ad up to swap my orks for more humans but so far it goes unanswered, if it goes like this any longer I will just buy another starter and put the board up for sale.

Still haven't started painting my squad up, I really hope to find some old empire decals so I don't have to make them some kind of bird team. Thinking the Ostermark Ocelots but not crazy over the state colors (purple and white)