Dreadball vs Blood Bowl

[barnacle111]

Shteveo - multiparters? Have I missed or forgotten something? It sounds good though!

[txapo]

they are two diferent games, so they will have two diferent set of players, nevertheless some can play to both of them. Until I try it I will not give my opinion anyway!

[Shteve0]

Shteveo - multiparters? Have I missed or forgotten something? It sounds good though!

Hmmm. Good question. I don't know where I've got that from, to be honest - I guess I've read the "alternate sculpts", along with "all the component options" (ie arms, legs, body armour, heads) and thought - that's multipart. Chris also told me early on that they were really keen to move onto multiparts once the first couple of stretch goals came in, and after that we got the alternate sculpts...

I guess I put those things together and was totally convinced we'd get some in multipart. I guess we'll see!

[DixonCider]

might be nice to have figures of different sizes, runners aren't usually the same size as the linemen, the height difference may just give more depth to the team. I am getting a space mice team to mix in with my current skaven team. I will wait and see if I pick up more later or not though.

[Axtklinge]

Apparently the (Dreadball) packages have started to show up:

http://meeples.wordpress.com/2012/12/07 ... oardgamer/

[Shteve0]

Nice find, Axt! I think they're also on sale in stores these days, and you can get them new from ebay.

From the unboxing:

"These are nice looking models, but they look pretty complicated to put together."

Sweet! Good news for some of us.

Edit: found a vid, and perhaps not so much - they look like clip lock ones, but at the least the goblin headswaps look simple.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FcL5r1TRqA8

[Axtklinge]

(...)
From the unboxing:
"These are nice looking models, but they look pretty complicated to put together."
Sweet! Good news for some of us.

Truth be told, the guy from the blog kinda sounded a bit picky. At least part of him did (not sure if the 'red' or the 'blue'...).

Sure they aren't one piece, but having put together several of their minis (plastic sprues form other Mantic ranges), I could almost bet they shouldn't be hard to put together.

And I wouldn't be bothered at all if each mini has a couple of parts to glue, specially if it meant widening the conversion potential.

[spubbbba]

It probably depends if they are used to playing normal board games where you use “pieces” to play with or model based games where the miniatures themselves are often as important or even more so than the game.

For the former I could see complaints if you need to do more than twist the bits off the spruce and have to glue rather than just fit them together.

[TalonBay]

I thought the reviewer was pretty spot on, I play board games and wargames and even still I'd be bowled over to have to glue together parts for a board game. There's enough of a modeller in me that the multipart miniatures aren't scary and will potentially be a good thing (depending on how many ways they can go together) but he was reviewing it with different hats on and I think he got the perspective right.

[Rewslaun]

I ended up passing on Dreadball. I read through the rulebook and watched the gameplay video but I couldn't rationalize buying it. If I have a fantasy football itch I'll scratch it with Blood Bowl.

[MattDakka]

One of the Dreadball's aspects that doesn't convince me is the poor (in my opinion) characterization of players' roles.
Just Jack, Guard, Striker, and the same Movement stat (each team has different Movement, but all players' type have the same Movement).
Armour's standardization is another thing that I don't like. A Dwarf Guard having same Armour as a Human Guard, or Dwarf Jack having same Armour as a Goblin Jack?

Maybe it's because I'm too much used to BB (that I don't consider flawless by the way), but my impression is that Dreadball lacks a bit of flavour compared to BB.
I'm not saying that Dreadball is worse than BB (not enough informations to have a solid opinion), these are just my first impressions about the limited elements I know.

[daloonieshaman]

@MattDakka
I think the simplicity with the stats is to attract 40k and Warmachine players

[JT-Y]

Being a WM&H player, I can assure you that all models having the same stats is one feature of Dreadball that does not appeal to me. WM&H armies have very varied stats, which are changed further in-game as a result of the interaction between units and support models or by spells, etc..

The other reason it doesn't appeal is that Mantic smacks of those knock-off versions of popular toys one finds on market stalls and in £ stores: Mantic sell the G.I. José of wargames.
Good luck to them but if I wanted to play WFB or 40k, I'd play WFB or 40k, not a snide version from the market.

[Shteve0]

Good luck to them but if I wanted to play WFB or 40k, I'd play WFB or 40k, not a snide version from the market.

And if I wanted to play 40k, I'd be looking for a cheaper source of minis. One of the draws of Bloodbowl to me is the limited number of figures you need, which is fantastic for new players. Mantic do them cheaper, and with the exception of the Judwan sculpts, in decent quality.

I can't get over how bad that Judwan sculpt is, by the way. I put in extra for the Judwan team based on the concept sketches, and they've come up with a really lousy effort. Gutted, after seeing the robots and John Doe done so well.

[MattDakka]

Mantic do them cheaper, and with the exception of the Judwan sculpts, in decent quality.

I can't get over how bad that Judwan sculpt is, by the way. I put in extra for the Judwan team based on the concept sketches, and they've come up with a really lousy effort. Gutted, after seeing the robots and John Doe done so well.

I rather like the DreadBall miniatures I've seen so far.
I've seen just one Judwan miniature:

not enthusiast about it, too static for an agile player (as Judwan are supposed to be if I'm not wrong).
On top of that, they are pacifist!
According to Jake himself (source: http://quirkworthy.com/2012/12/02/dread ... 2-testing/):
"Of the 4 there was only one that cause issues, and that was the Judwan. They were always going to be the awkward one, so this was largely expected. They are unique (and will remain so) in being the only team that cannot harm their opponents. As DreadBall essentially boils down to two elements (thumping folk and throwing the ball), focussing entirely on one is more than a little bizarre. Whether this design goal is actually practical in the long run is still up for grabs. I may have to give them some ability to bash the other side or, as some suggested, at least push others about. However, as I demonstrated on the unfortunate Stewart, pushing people about doesn’t seem all that pacifist, and is really just Slamming by another name. Whilst it may be necessary to make the team work, I’d rather avoid it if I can.
They are unique (and will remain so) in being the only team that cannot harm their opponents."
Why be so stubborn? Well my aim here is to make teams that offer as wide a range of tactical choices and are as characterful and varied as I can make them whilst keeping a coherent background environment and story. Not being able to score is an option that isn’t available. Not being able to Slam is a theoretical option which offers one intriguing tactical extreme. The problem is that it isn’t fun to play at the moment (though it does work mechanically). Although every team will be dull to some, the Judwan in their present state just aren’t floating anyone’s boat much, and that can’t stay.

So there’s work yet to be done. Luckily it’s only the most bizarre of the 4 teams. I seem to have the measure of the others who seem to be working rather nicely."