Alright, a few of us have started up with an online java based game called Blood Bowl recently. It's based off of a tabletop game and the gist of the game is that it is turn based American Rules Football but with ultra violence and fantasy themed teams. Orcs, Chaos beast, Humans, Elves, Goblins and the like all forming teams to pound each other senseless, while occasionally getting ahold of the ball and making a touch down. While I'm sure real football knowledge might help you for placement of players, it's not necesarry at all to enjoy the game.
The game is pretty strategy based so it does require some practice to get down, so getting in while all of us are learning is a good way of getting introduced along with the rest of us. Even if you aren't on any time soon with the rest of us there is a pretty active community with a lot of people willing to teach and the PDF with the rules is a free download. Also keep in mind that the very basics are best learned in game.
As I said, it uses a Java Client to connect the 2 players and your first game, like with most board games, is likely to take several hours but once you have the basics down, games take about 60 - 90 minutes. Players can be kicked out of games, KO'd, get permanent injuries or even killed. It's expected for payers to die or at least be retired at some point, so no point in getting
too attached to any specific player.
Here are some important links to get you started.
http://fumbbl.comhttp://fumbbl.com/help:
http://fumbbl.com/help:NewbieWhichRaceYou'll want to download theJavabbowl 8.9 installer and the Living Rulebook from this link.
http://fumbbl.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=Downloads&file=index&req=viewdownload&cid=3This is the suggest Java client to avoid lag. I tried the newest and it was terrible, but installing this older version fixed all of the issues I was having.
http://java.sun.com/products/archive/j2se/6u7/index.htmlThe community tends to use IRC a lot for matchmaking so if you're up for it, it's a good way of getting more experienced players to help you out and tear your teams apart in the attempt to beat good tactics into your skull. The forums are also an invaluable tool to get yourself started and learn how leveling your players works and what are good choices for leveling.
Members:
ackblom12 -
http://fumbbl.com/~ackblom12Cardinal Fang -
http://fumbbl.com/~Fang_Hamhandsthe_pied_piper -
http://fumbbl.com/~the_pied_pipere.spaceman -
http://fumbbl.com/~espacemanThomas Edison -
http://fumbbl.com/~ThomasEdisonChristophe -
http://fumbbl.com/~ChristopheBallard -
http://fumbbl.com/~Ballardöde -
http://fumbbl.com/~odeiAnimal Ghosts -
http://fumbbl.com/~alyoshaStorm Rider -
http://fumbbl.com/~eirenarchSam -
http://fumbbl.com/~walkingcloudsodi -
http://fumbbl.com/~supersheepPantsFTW -
http://fumbbl.com/~LuchaPantsTyler -
http://fumbbl.com/~teresias216Jeans -
http://fumbbl.com/~Jeansnegative creep -
http://fumbbl.com/~NegativeCreepJohnnyC -
http://fumbbl.com/~warmandpunchyloco_banana -
http://fumbbl.com/~ideologistMerrick -
http://fumbbl.com/~MerrickSnalin -
http://fumbbl.com/~snalinI will continue to add folks to the list as they post in here.
EDIT - Ok, things you should familiarize yourself with before you start your first game.
This link has more strategies and stariting line up suggestions for all of the races -
http://fumbbl.com/help:RaceStrategyThis link has step by step instructions on how to setup a game -
http://fumbbl.com/help:SettingUpGamesIn the PDF, there are a fews pecific pages that will be amazingly useful from the start.
Page 11 - This has the list of Block Die icons. These are very very important to get down. Skulls are bad and a couple of other ones have conditions, but it's a good idea to memorize these icons as quickly as possible.
Page 34 - This is a list of skills. Some teams have a lot of skill based players so even for new teams this is a good lsit to get somewhat familiar with. At the very least, it's a good reference page.
Page 43 - This page has a list of handicaps and explanation. If you end up playing a stronger team, you'll get to roll for handicaps, and these are some of the effects. Not terribly common, but good to have for reference.
This is the most useful picture you will have starting off. This is the lsit of Die icons and what they do. Memorize this as quickly as possible.
We've gotten enough people that we've opted to make a Meebo room to avoid cluttering Pocket Jury. Just PM one of the coaches for the password.
http://www.meebo.com/room/qcbloodbowl/Edit: Ok, found these gorgeous skins for the Pitch in the forums and thought we should share them.
http://tinyurl.com/yj54fwcIn the JBBowl/Pics/Fields path make a new folder and extract the files into that folder. Once you're in game you can use the right click menu to change what field options you want, which includes Pitch sie and Field Tiles.
Here are some player icon sets for those of you who have encounted games where players are showing up as just letters or missing pictures
Ultimate Pack - This one should cover 95% of your needs, it misses a few large icons though which is what you'll need the next one for
http://www.mediaf!re.com/?wznqndtmlzm
Large Pitch Pack - This includes a lot of large pitch stunty icons which is about the only thing that was neglected by the Ultimate pack
http://www.mediaf!re.com/?zijkdzymzoh