This, my friends, is called a Pitch Invasion. The fans have taken over the game...
One of Blood Bowl's hooks is the skill system. If your player earns enough XP you can customize him (it..) with various skills from various skill trees.
That little Gutter Runner alone in the distance? He's about to score -- Skaven = Fast. I still think the AI provides nothing more than a warm up to the meat of the game -- multiplayer, but I do love beating the Dwarfs.
This is the other huge hook -- your team grows over time. But not always the way you want or the way you expect. My Skaven team the Undercity Warp Rats are now 7 games into their campaign, winning the first tourney with a 5-1 record. I lost early to another Skaven team who we routed in the Cup Final 4-1. I just played a Group 1 game in the next tourney and beat the Dwarf team the Black Axes 3-0. So we're cruising right along.
But look at my roster.
While the team leaders are clearly Gutter Runner Spikey Green, who has scored a crazy 6 TDs in 7 games and the massive Rat Ogre Wildrat Ivan who leads the entire league in registered kills (4) I have some issues.
Another Gutter Runner , Three-Finger Skeeter, had his collar bone smashed last game, lowering his Strength to 1. That's not going to cut it. Skeeter may have to get cut. And Lineman Wikka Tikka just received a level up and received a fantastic +1 Agility bonus -- but also suffers from a smashed knee. He'll miss next game and is now even more susceptible to injury, and with his low Armor of 7 -- it's only a matter of time. (when you fall you roll 2D6 against your AV)
And that's how BB plays out -- your players don't last forever. They either die or get so beat up that they wear out their welcome because they cost so damn much. Three-Finger still costs 80K. He ain't worth that now. Wikka Tikka costs 40K more than an average lineman even with his knee issues. If I play long enough Spikey Green is GOING to get hurt. That AV is going to catch up to him, eventually.
And while you don't technically pay your players after you hire them their cost is factored into your team value and if you have a bunch of injured players your value will be that of a paper tiger. And that's very dangerous.
Watching your team grow and decline and grow back again is utterly addicting.
And the PC game captures that part of the boardgame beautifully.
