Talk Fantasy Football

When I start someone it's with Amazons, easy stat line ( they are all 6 3 3 7) and the "Basic" skills, block, dodge, pass, catch....

+1 for zons.
Start with them and then after a while try a stunty team. You will lose a lot but learn about the importance of doing things in the right order. Just avoid dwarves, they are boring, broken, a crutch and you learn NOTHING.

Orcs is probably the most forgiving team for beginners – especially if you are playing against people with some experience. They are strong and do not have many nega traits.

Being a bit of a purist myself, though, I prefer the Human team for beginners. It’s slightly more difficult, but it has clearly defined positionals and it’ll help you learn that not all blood bowl players are created equal. Although slightly harder, I think the learning you’ll receive is more rewarding.

Amazon is also a quite forgiving team and, as mentioned, has the advantage of all players being rather alike. Just don’t test them against any kind of dwarves, or you’ll soon be left wondering where your team disappeared.

Finally, give this page a look as well. You’ll find some good playbooks here, and when comparing them to the ones on bbtactics you’ll see that different coaches have different opinions:
http://www.plasmoids.dk/bbowl/LRB6Playbooks.htm

Welcome back to the game!

I would get in touch with waterbowlers even before sirting a team out. If you practise with a few you can make a sensible choice. Speaking of which, fumbbl.com is your friend!

Thanks all for the advice on which races to go with first. I will take another look at Amazons though I don't think I have seen any good minis for them yet - I'm drawn to the the races that have decent looking ones!

It looks like orcs are a good all round first choice and since I will have some from the starter box set, I think it will be a safe bet (and cheaper) to go with them initially.

@el Superbeasto: thanks for the link to the playbooks, I did a scout around the NAF website after Darkson and sann0638 put me onto it and I read some of these this morning!

@sann0638: thanks for the advice, I need to take a proper look at fumbbl at some point.

Again, thanks all for all your advice and pointers, really helpful - I'm having a blast just reading up on all this stuff, I can't wait to get stuck in!

FUMBBL 145 rookie league. avoids the kill all menz min maxers who will pick you on there sometimes.

+1 for Tritex for buying in the UK. Always had great service.

I like the look of Impacts Amazon team and will pick up from the kickstarter. Too hard to resist at that price. The teams sold by Impact are sculpted by many different artists so some teams look better than others.

Remember Willys miniatures are 30 mm in case you were thinking about mixing manufacturers.

I will probably try to stick with all Willy miniatures where possible. I notice they were developing an amazon team, but I haven't seen any recent updates on this - anyone know if these are going to come out?

Rinzen wrote: Any opinions on my earlier query about best races to start with?

First off, welcome to TalkFantasyFootball!!!
About the best races, I'd suggest Orcs, Dwarfs and Undead and I'd avoid: the four joke teams (Vampires, Ogres, Goblins and Halflings) because they were designed weak on purpose; Slann, Underworld, Chaos Pact, Chaos and Nurgle; finesse teams such as all the four elf teams and Skaven are very strong but a bit hard to play if you are new to the game.
As already suggested, take a look at fumbbl, you will find many coaches to play with there.

Heff wrote: Just avoid dwarves, they are boring, broken, a crutch and you learn NOTHING.

Same with elves....

FUMBBL does have a lot of decent to better tactics articles and is on my faves list... makes for great reading while painting or whilst having a little down time....

You'll find an intriguing sweet spot in including a couple of gobbos on the orc roster, and orcs should be able to protect them well....

I am into sharing minis among teams (costs and weight considerations) so an orc team with gobbos could share with an underworld and goblin team(s).... Staves off boredom and gives you a more economical way to field three teams, while being able to appreciate the stunties....

If you like a set of minis so much, there's no reason why you can't play them with a different race. We have a guy in our league who borrowed my orcs and uses them for everything. He's got a back story as to why they are damn ugly Amazons or anything else. He's actually in the Impact kickstarter with us so I'm kinda looking forward to getting my minis back.

@TheDancingClown: picking up again on your point about Willy miniatures using 30mm bases, does this mean there is a scaling issue when you compare these figures to 25mm base opponents? Having not seen the Willy miniatures in person I don't know if this is an issue or not.

Rinzen wrote:picking up again on your point about Willy miniatures using 30mm bases,

Scale, not bases, although they're bigger than 30mm scale. As for how it looks on the pitch, really depends on how you feel about varying scales. I really like most of the Willy sculpts, but having put them next to "normal" BB figures I deceided not to bother (especially the mummies, which are ridiculously oversized imo). I certainly wouldn't mix and match them with other ranges in one team.

I agree, that would that would look odd. Still tempted by the Chaos team sculpts, but I'm not sure my wallet can handle them right now, plus I'm probably attempting to run before I can walk, having just picked up the hobby again!

Personally I wouldn't worry about the scale compared to other teams. The thing I enjoy most about this community is the variety and innovation so your opponents could be ugly orc-shaped Amazons or bunny rabbit Dark Elves. You are the one that will be using your team the most so get something you like, not something that fits into other peoples standards.

I can't really comment on the scale as I have only bought a few big guys from Willy. Zug looked ridiculous compared to human linemen, but then at over 7ft he is supposed to stand out a bit!

I took a quick comparison shot this morning of Morg, ignore the 12yr old's painting (me many many many years ago). As you can see the size isn't far off, but the bulk of shoulders and legs is noticeable.