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( Above is a match won w/o commentary as Khermi vs the weapon wielding goblins to provide gameplay examples for this review)

Blood Bowl II Legendary Edition Review

Blood Bowl II is a sports manager sim that includes turn based matches and dice rolling action, but there's a twist. These players are orcs, goblins, ogre, zombies, mummies, dinosaurs, and bears? Oh my! Not to mention that players can die in the middle of the game and all actions are permanent in this rogue-like high fantasy manager RPG. Below I parse through the elements of this review including gameplay, tabletop origin, how it compares to the prequel, are the DLC worth it, prize laden tournaments, graphics/feel, and more!

This Match and my Blood Bowl II Career

In this match you will watch me win as Kerhmi vs the weapon wielding goblins. Having played khermi in chaos edition and knowing the races weaknesses and strengths it seemed like a no-brainer to bring them to the pitch here in Blood Bowl II (apparently with resounding effect). I will likely be putting together character guides as I play through a season as each race as time goes on to develop some experienced teams for tournament potential (mentioned below). The first playguide I'll be posting to socials will be in fact for the khermi themselves and how to best level and utilize your low agi mummy oddities. Blood Bowl is something I have fun playing and will be getting some matches in here and there for the foreseeable future (especially with Blood Bowl III coming up). This team has not played just this match but remains undefeated, and has quite a few kills notched into their belt now (with zero player deaths). All stats can be observed in game by looking for their team name "Amun's Immortals", you could even buy players auctioned from this team etc. if you wanted on the market if I ever have any for sale by searching the same keyword. I do plan on eventually training an extensive roster and auctioning off some players to improve the stadium itself (much more expensive upgrades that offer great benefits for home field matches).

Gameplay: Strategic Team Manager w/ RPG Elements

In Blood Bowl II you manage a football team set in the Warhammer 40k universe. You buy the players, lvl them up, sell them, and watch them get injured or depart to the great beyond. You can also buy stadium upgrades like: cheerleaders, rerolls (rolling the die an EXTRA time one per turn), or whatever other structural improvements you deem necessary as the team manager. You are funded from winning in matches (or losing) and your starting sponsorship money.

Gameplay: On the Pitch

The game consisted of sports matched participated in by two teams. Each race and team composition possesses it's different traits that then create strengths and weaknesses therein. You can play these matches as these races in a single player league or multiplayer league. Each match consists of various elements and phases. The phases consist of both a "planning" phase and "combat or battle" phase. In the spirit of brevity I will not delve in depth into the mechanics beyond a basic summary. The "combat phase" consists of players passing the ball, tackling/ attacking (sometimes with weapons), catching, interceptions, and touching the ball down in the endzone.

Planning Phase: Stack Your Bribes and Hire Your Assassins

The planning phase is also where balance is achieved between teams with different raw player value (player levels and equipment factor into their raw player value). The team with a lower value gets petty cash to use for the match to "even the odds" however they see fit. During this phase you can buy bribes ("get out of jail free" card for moments regarding the referee), hire Star Players (Incredibly strong mercenary players), or other attendants based on race (some can even REVIVE a fallen player during the match).

Combat Phase: Time to Knock some skulls

Once combat begins the game plays in a standard turn based format in which each piece is entitled to a limited movement parameter and options based on it's character stats, prefaced by a phase in which to place them. Certain things can only be done a certain number of times (without abilities learned through leveling that are obtained through rare rolls of the dice).

• You can only tackle ONCE and only someone you are adjacent to at the start of your turn (without using a Blitz action)
• You must perform a dodge roll based on agility if you attempt to move out of/through an opponents tackle zones (area they can tackle at the start/end of a turn)
• Each player can ONLY tackle OR pass the ball ONCE (rolling dice to throw and catch)

• After a throw the enemy team can roll to intercept it with ONE of their players that are in it's path
• ONLY ONE PLAYER CAN TACKLE AND MOVE IN THE SAME ACTION PER TURN (This is a "blitz" action)
• Players score points by having a player make it to the opposing teams endzone with the ball in hand (by whatever means necessary)

These are the most basic combat phase mechanics that are true across the board. There are others like bolstering players by having them adjacent to each other. However, I did not mention this on purpose because then I would be tempted to explain how to get past that and on and one. I'll be saving the in depth guide for another post (explaining ALL mechanics and their in depth utility and how to best use them for victory).

Graphics and Feel

The graphics are beautiful and the best Blood Bowl has seen to date (aside from TBA Blood Bowl III). The additional animations for movement and attacks for the characters are appreciated. The announcers can get boring quick, but that's the only boring thing about gameplay and an option you can turn off.

The graphics are gorgeous and the backgrounds and stadiums are well done with little "attention to detail" touches in every arena.

Does the sequel deliver anything Chaos Edition doesn't?

Well yes and no. Yes there are new gameplay elements, but the core gameplay is the same as in previous iterations. Aside from the additional teams added and overall beautification of the game the only gameplay mechanics that are different are during the campaign or long term during multiplayer: stadium upgrades. Blood Bowl Chaos Edition offers AS FUN of a gameplay experience, but this game is where the playerbase currently resides so it is the ideal choice for blood bowl fans looking to play a match vs a human opponent (keep in mind single player in blood bowl is still very rewarding).

(screenshotted from their in game store page here )

Are the DLC worth it? and a note on Tournaments

The DLC each provide ONE race, however these races are not better or worse than the core races. They are fun and offer new gameplay from race to race, but they are a bit pricey and unless one race speaks to you particularly unlikely worth the current price tag. The legendary edition sometimes is on sale and includes all the races and can be heavily discounted.

Tournaments: Small to Mid-Tier Leagues

There ARE tournament in which you can win real world currency. However to be competitive you have to have a good RUN with your team not just a few matches. You need to level your team for the brutal inevitable Finale at the end of the season, this requires actively playing with your team for the duration of the season and improving your stadium and units accordingly. The prize pools aren't very large but a very interesting way to garner the interest in running teams seasonally from scratch. There are also community hosted and held tournaments for this title on occasion aswell, aside from the always running official brackets.

From Board to Screen: Decades in the making

(image taken from Wikipedia)

While this is not the first iteration of Blood bowl it will be far from the last (Blood Bowl III is on it's way). This game originated as a Warhammer tabletop game in 1986 and now is brought to life with fully animated characters with which you can enjoy Blood Bowl's glorious carnage in full HD thanks to modern technology. This game has an active player/fanbase spanning (at this point) decades.

TLDR: Just tell me how many stars dammit!

I have got to give this a 4 or even a 4.5 if you are into turn based strategic gameplay with RNG factor (like I am). If you are not into turn based strategic games in which RNG is a factor THIS GAME IS NOT FOR YOU. However if those sort of games are your fancy or you are into the zany fantastical sports team aesthetic this title is definitely worth picking up. THE DLC ARE NOT WORTH THE PRICE AND NOT NECCESARY UNLESS YOU REALLY WANT ONE OF THOSE RACES. This game brings Blood Bowl to new glamorous gory heights, bringing all the guts of the game with it.

A note for those who aren't a fan of RNG or turnbased games

If you aren't into turnbased strategy where dice rolls or RNG are a factor (or if you aren't into the high fantasy sports aesthetic) this game will probably be a wash for you. Keep in mind despite MY positive review I recognize that there will be times your opponent takes out your big guy with their little guy, completes that hail Mary pass from one end of the field to the other, or whatever other statistical anomaly may occur. I also recognize that easy rolls like smashing a small unit with a big brute, a short pass, and easy dodge will sometimes result it turnovers or even death. That's why this review has this little section to recognize those aspects of the game and give a complete overview of the negative aspects of it aswell. Despite your best efforts RNG can say nay in the crucial moments of the game, but it can also say "oh yeah throw that long bomb pass to the 1 agility character". You're rolling the dice quite literally, there's always a chance no matter how slim to fail or succeed.

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