Talk Fantasy Football

OK, following the various threads and consensus of opinion that the boosters are badly packaged, I thought I'd mail the Fanatic guys and let them know about popular opinion, rather than just bitching on the boards.
Here's a snip from what I recieved from JJ:
"If people have a problem with the contents of the blister packs they need to write to us about it. We don't mind too much what is in a blister pack as long as there is no more than one booster per team."

With this in mind, I thought I'd draw up a proposed list of booster contents designed to compliment the boxed sets.


Undead:
Boxed set: 2 Mummies , 2 Ghouls, 2 Wights, 3 Skeletons, 3 Zombies.
Existing Booster: 1 Mummy, 1 Wight, 1 Ghoul, 1 Skeleton or Zombie (listed as lineman).
Surplus Mummy and Lineman; replace with:
Proposed Booster: 2 Wights, 2 Ghouls.

Wood Elf:
Boxed set: 1 Thrower, 2 Wardancers , 2 Catcher, 7 Linemen.
Existing Booster: 1 Thrower, 1 Wardancer, 1 Catcher, 1 Lineman. Surplus Wardancer; replace with:
Proposed Booster: 1 Thrower, 2 Catchers, 1 Lineman.

Dark Elf:
Boxed set: 1 Thrower, 2B, 2 Witch Elves, 7 Linemen.
Existing Booster: 1 Thrower, 1 Witch Elf, 1 Blitzer, 1 Lineman.
Surplus Witch Elf; replace with:
Proposed Booster: 1 Thrower, 2 Blitzers, 1 Lineman.

Dwarf:
Boxed set: 2 Runners, 2 Troll Slayers, 2 Blitzers, 6 Longbeards.
Existing Booster:1 Runner, 1 Troll Slayer, 1 Blitzer, 1 Longbeard. Surplus Runner, Troll Slayer and Blitzer; replace with:
Proposed Booster: 4 Longbeards.

Skaven:
Boxed set: 1 Thrower, 2 Storm Vermin, 2 Gutter Runners, 6 Linemen.
Existing Booster: 1 Thrower, 1 Storm Vermin, 1 Gutter Runner, 1Lineman.
Surplus Storm Vermin; replace with:
Proposed Booster: 1 Thrower, 2 Gutter Runners, 1 Lineman.

High Elf:
Boxed set: 1 Pheonix Warrior, 2 Dragon Warriors, 2 Lion Warriors, 7 Linemen.
Existing Booster: 1 Pheonix Warrior, 1 Dragon Warrior, 1 Lion Warrior, 1 Lineman.
Surplus Dragon Warrior; replace with:
Proposed Booster: 1 Pheonix Warrior, 2 Lion Warriors, 1 Lineman.

Khemri:
Boxed set: 2 Mummies, 10 Skeletons.
Existing Booster: 1 Mummy, 3 Skeletons.
Surplus Skeleton, still a Mummy short; replace with:
Proposed Booster: 2 Mummies, 2 Skeletons.

Amazon:
Boxed set: 1 Thrower, 2 Catcher, 2 Blitzers, 5 Linemen.
Existing Booster: 1 Thrower, 1 Catcher, 1 Blitzer, 1 Lineman. Surplus Catcher; replace with:
Proposed Booster: 1 Thrower, 2 Blitzers, 1 Lineman.

Lizardmen:
Boxed set: 4 Saurus, 1 Krox, 7 Skinks.
Existing Booster: 1 Saurus, 1 Skink.
Fine as is. Just buy 2, no surplus players.

Chaos:
Boxed set: 3 Chaos Warriors, 8 Beastmen.
Existing Booster: 1 Chaos Warrior , 1 Beastman, 1 Mutant.
I'm ok with this one, open to debate. Maybe 1 Chaos Warrior, 3 Beastmen would be better, just leaves room for the Big Guy.

Norse:
Boxed set: 2 Throwers, (1?)2 Blitzers, 2 Catchers, 6 Linemen.
Existing Booster: 1 Thrower, 1 Catcher, 1 Blitzer, 1 Lineman. Surplus Catcher; replace with:
Proposed Booster: 2(3?) Blitzers, 2(1?) Lineman.

Right, that's the easy ones! 'Flings and Gobbos are irrelevent with no positional players. Some discussion on the below would be cool.

Orcs:
Metal Boxed set: 1 Thrower, 3 Blitzers, 2 Black Orcs, 5 Linemen.
Existing Booster: 1 Thrower, 1 Blitzer, 1 Black Orc, 1 Lineman.
That compliments pretty well IMO, even if you buy it to suppliment the plastics in the box, you get 2 additional players and 2 metals to replace 2 plastics. I'd say that it's fine as is.
Edit: following comments below-
Proposed Booster:1 Thrower, 1 Blitzer, 2 Black Orcs.

Human:
Metal Boxed set: 1 Thrower, 3 Blitzers, 2 Catcher, 6 Linemen.
Existing Booster: 1 Thrower, 1 Blitzer, 1 Catcher, 1 Lineman.
Again, this works ok for me, but I'd rather see the following:
Proposed Booster: 1 Thrower, 1 Blitzer, 2 Catcher.
That gives you the 2 additional players and 2 metals to replace 2 plastics in line with the Orcs. Then again, not everyone likes to use 4 Catchers, and the extra lineman is always handy. Not a biggie anyway, doubt we'll get consensus.

Probably easiest to leave Orcs and Humans alone. Thoughts?

And finally..the Big Hats:

Chaos Dwarf:
Metal Boxed set: 4 Chaos Dwarves, 8 Hobgoblins.
Existing Booster: 1 Chaos Dwarf, 2 Hobgoblins.
CD coaches are probably gonna field 2 centaurs anyway, and the existing booster is probably better for a starting line-up. Personally, I'd rather see
Proposed Booster: 2 Chaos Dwarves, 1 Hobgoblin.
That way you'd max out on Chaos Dwarves, and still have an additional HG with 2 BCs on the roster.

Well that's about it. What do we want in the boosters? What's better for new players? Let's stop bitching on here, email Fanatic and see if we can get something done.
Any omissions, obvious male chicken-ups etc and I'll edit.

Sounds great, only the orcs...

Most orc players I know (okay, the only one I know) use 4 blitzers 4 black orcs 2 throwers an Ogre a few gobbo's and as few line-orcs as possible, so I'd prefer 2 BOB in that booster with no line-orc.

By the way, that sounds rather disinterested of JJ; we don't mind what kind of bull shit we sell just as long as we get money for it, jeese...

Of course with elves you would actually start a league team with more line-elves than you could get with one team box and one booster pack, but I guess people would substitute a thrower or blitzer for a line-elf initially. (Eventually some'll die anyway.)

Cheers,
Martyn

Brilliant idea DW.

For the orcs I'd suggest you max out the positional players and have 2 BoBs in the booster. The rule of thumb to use should be "the booster packs should combine with the basic set to create a roster of 16 with a full roster of positional players". I do see your point about the plastics though.

Let me know when you're happy with the format and I'll add my voice to the cause.

I agree that the orcs are great as is.

For me, the above change to humans would be good. The problem is if I wanted 1 more lineman I would be forced to buy an additional starter. I think it would be best to leave that 1 be.

For Chaos dwarfs, I like the current distribution. The main reason being I picked up 6 second edition Chaos dwarfs and all I need to add is the Hobgoblins. My plan was to buy 3 boosters then use the big hats as coaching staff.

Orc proposal edited. I don't think there's a clear cut best option for Orcs and Humans though.

Redfang: Having met JJ, one thing he absolutely isn't is 'disinterested' in BB. I read that as 'we're prepared to listen'. You're being a little too cynical IMO.

Martyn: Yeah, people are always going to start 10 or 11 line-elf rosters. All we can aim to do is max out on positional players, and avoid people paying for redundant figures. As you said, far better to improvise in the short term.

Khankill: LOL! You need 8 not 6 anyway. (which is 4 boosters, giving 8 HG and 4 CDs, that's what's in the box set!) Anyway, we're looking at the best options for people wanting to buy complete teams over the counter, as opposed to filling out individual needs depending on what they may or may not have to date. Use MO for that.

DW: I applaud your initiative. Your efforts will benefit us all if GW actually does change the BB booster packs. Thank you!

I hope JJ and GW understand (or come to understand) that if the booster packs are left as they are now, then few people will purchase them and customer satisfaction/loyalty will take a dive. I also hope that JJ and GW don't translate poor booster pack sales as a lack of interest in BB.

Got my seal of approval DW. This would at least make the booster/blisters make sense and not screw the new rookie player like the current set does. If you need names on the petition .. add mine.

Galak

Yup I agree, good work Woody. The boosters will be a great way to beef up your team this way for sure.

That looks good.
Extra linemen are usually needed only in the beginning of a teams carrieer, so I can't see a pressing need for having them in the rosters. If some people definitely want to have 11 wood elf linemen, they can order them from MO, but that's not something that most people would do, so the blisters suggested above are pretty much the ideal solution.

Good idea. Saves loads of money or the time needed to explain a Troll what you really want ...

Full support from the northern wastes!
Personally I'm fine with the Human and Orc boosters. The Human one should definately not change because the catcher models are so piss poor. The plastic Catchers are miles better.

Good job DW, I'll give my approval with big smiley happiness.

While your at it tell JJ he may want to try selling them in America.

While your at it tell JJ he may want to try selling them in America.

Fanatic has no control over what is sold in America, that is up to GW US. You can complain to them if you want, but JJ and company has no control over it short of trying to convince them it's a good idea. The sales arms in GW are seprate for most countries.

Yeah add me to the support.

Give GW some credit - if they listen to some fans and change it that's good!


Well done DW.


Dave