GuildBall

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Gronlokk
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GuildBall

Post by Gronlokk »

There seems to be a new fantasy football game on the horizon called GuildBall. It takes place in some kind of medieval European setting with guilds settling disputes and coming to decisions by arranging football matches between the guilds' teams:
https://www.facebook.com/guildball
http://www.guildball.com

So far they've only shown artworks that are obviously pretty far away from what the miniatures are going to look like. Furthermore (and somewhat dissappointing), the teams are using weapons and kick the ball instead of throwing it.

So what do you think? Interesting?

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HairyPete77
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Re: GuildBall

Post by HairyPete77 »

I will keep an eye on it but am put off by the artwork showing the use of weapons. I prefer a sporty game to a combat one.

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lawquoter
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Re: GuildBall

Post by lawquoter »

The Fantasy Sports market is so glutted with miniatures and start ups, I have no idea what would possess someone to try to add another. I can *almost* understand GW wishing to get out of the muck and not support BB anymore. :lol:

As far as the game, what does it offer that we can't get from BB, DB, EB, KB or NbN, or any other game I neglected to mention? Has anyone seen the rules?

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Re: GuildBall

Post by worthy »

Gronlokk wrote:The teams are using weapons and kick the ball instead of throwing it.
Just clicked on the linked sited and spotted this line:
"clash and struggle to control leather wrapped inflated pig’s bladder and attempt to kick it into the opponent’s goal. ".

Basically it's Medieval Soccer, so expect Sir Suarez-of-Tully to pretend he got hit by a sword in order to claim a penalty :lol:

BTW on their Facebook page under photo's, they show one of the models with some jigsaw pieces covering parts of it.

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Re: GuildBall

Post by Gronlokk »

lawquoter wrote: As far as the game, what does it offer that we can't get from BB, DB, EB, KB or NbN, or any other game I neglected to mention? Has anyone seen the rules?
Hmm, I am not sure, if I already own all of those... It is Blood Bowl (check), Dreadball (check), Elfball, Kaosball (check) and ??? What is NbN?
By the way, are there any Elfball boxes still available?

Edit: KB probably meant Kaosball instead of Kill Ball.

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Re: GuildBall

Post by worthy »

Gronlokk wrote:What is NbN?
NbN = Nuthin' but Net
Boardgame Geek Link - http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/ ... in-but-net

Basically Lord of the Rings meets Basket Ball, lol!

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Re: GuildBall

Post by Gronlokk »

They've posted a render of their first character over at https://www.facebook.com/guildball

He does look very cool. Dynamic pose, awesome beard. I like it. And I've realized I don't really mind the players having weapons. Kaosball has them as well and it isn't that bad.

But there is one thing that I already hate: They are not going to use a board with spaces, instead the players are going to move and throw etc. a given distance in inches... while I could see myself building some kind of stadium for this kind of game, I wouldn't want to use a range ruler for every other action of one of my playing pieces... This might sound stupid, but it is one of my main turnoffs of wargaming.

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jdmofo
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Re: GuildBall

Post by jdmofo »

This one seems weird but at least different to the other FF games out there which to me all seem like BB ripoffs to a larger or smaller extent - not least because most of them are a thinly veiled excuse to sell BB minis, which is great IMO but not conducive to making sparking games.

Reading bits of their FB page makes this one seem really different which makes me interested in it even though it may be terrible when it comes out.

No squares on the board, while it may actually just slow things down, is at least going to make for a very different playing experience and the influence thing is more intriguing, nothing new to gaming but for an FF game could be good. From their FB page:

Every model in Guild Ball has a statistic called Influence. This represents the affect the model can have on the field of play. It's formed of 2 numbers, the first being the amount of Influence generated each turn and the second being the maximum a model can be allocated.

Influence is gathered into a central pool at the beginning of each turn and then, in initiative order, is allocated to you models. Influence is used to take actions and power special plays/abilities. the more you give a single model, the more important a role they will play in the coming turn.

This is a form of resource management that gives huge flexibility in how that turn is going to play out, but also lends itself to bluff and counter-bluff macro gameplay as you try and disguise your intent for the turn...don't give all the influence to one model and expect your opponent to not realise what you're doing

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Re: GuildBall

Post by jdmofo »

That render of the mini is less inspiring for me though. A nice enough mini but not FF looking in any way, that ball looks like it shouldn't be there as the figure is not looking at it at all. Just looks like a fantasy elf figure with random ball added. maybe the next ones will have more FF theme...

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GalakStarscraper
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Re: GuildBall

Post by GalakStarscraper »

jdmofo wrote:This one seems weird but at least different to the other FF games out there which to me all seem like BB ripoffs to a larger or smaller extent
I will tell you that when I designed Elfball ... it was to make a new game not a ripoff. Anyone who has actually played it will tell you that if you play it like BB ... you will lose. :wink:

I did look over Guildball ... but the weapons are just a turnoff for me personally ... not because I have a bias as I own and have supported many different FF games over the years. Just prefer my sports games to be weapons lite.

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Re: GuildBall

Post by Steam Ball »

I remember Relics Armistice League was going to be also gridless. Sadly it seems to have been in stuck in v0.1 for some time. Are there any others? Could Guildball the first of that kind to reach wide release?

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Re: GuildBall

Post by Shonkhor »

I'm keeping a close eye on this - the kickstarter is due to launch very soon. The medieval/Game of Thrones style setting and artwork appeals. Many of the game mechanics spoiled also sound quite novel and interesting, for example:

--------------------------
#4 Momentum System
--------------------------

This is a resource based mechanic that allows us to reflect the ebb and flow of a football game. We've not seen anything else like this before so could say it's unique to our game, but regardless, the momentum system allows for a flexible pool of resource that goes up and down during a turn depending on the success or failures of the team and its players.

Momentum is generated by actively doing things...which can then be spent to boost actions, shoot at goal, trigger out of turn actions, and many other options.

Essentially, the more a team does successfully in a turn, the more momentum a team has, and so the more likely it will perform
better in the round.

But to counter the out-of-control snowballing that might happen, MP is also crucial in ‘interrupting’ play and allowing out of activation actions by models. This is a hugely powerful aspect of the game and adds layers of depth...especially defensively.

The key to balancing this mechanic is working with the obvious advantage to going first...thereby being the team that gets to generate momentum first and possibly being able to take some degree of control of the turn...and so momentum also feeds into the Initiative roll for the subsequent turn. Basically, left over momentum at the end of each turn is used to add to your Initiative roll and then momentum is reset.

Think about it, momentum is now a deliciously difficult decision making resource...do you spend it and try for an advantage knowing you might lose initiative in the following turn as a result? or do you bide your time, hoard it and then push for a counter-turn next time? tough decisions...but fun...

The momentum mechanic also encourages positive play...even if you feel limited with your options you can always do something and generate momentum for the team with each model.

in play, this is a great resource...really feels like you're building play up and then striking at the right time...just like a good game of football!


Looking forward to giving it a go!

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Re: GuildBall

Post by bouncergriim »

Elfball already had/has a momentum system, every time you roll better than you need to you can store that success and use it to reroll future events.

Might want to see how these compare, but that explanation almost seems straight out of the Elfball rulebook.

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Re: GuildBall

Post by GalakStarscraper »

bouncergriim wrote:Elfball already had/has a momentum system, every time you roll better than you need to you can store that success and use it to reroll future events.

Might want to see how these compare, but that explanation almost seems straight out of the Elfball rulebook.
I agree ... not exact ... but the first half of that text is darn close to it. Hey I should be flattered that a lot of the concept I developed to make a better game are being put into other games that are getting talked about highly. :D

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Re: GuildBall

Post by Shonkhor »

I'd forgotten about the Elfball momentum system. I only had the 1 demo game of it a few years back.


Anyway the Guildball Kickstarter is now live and seems to be off to a good start:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/12 ... tball-game

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