PBeM Blood Bowl

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Originally Posted: 23/12/06

Play-by-Email Blood Bowl. It's a godsend, right? For those of us that can't get a regular face-to-face game, or just to play against people we'll never meet, or meet anytime soon.

Yep, that's what I keep telling myself.
Just at the minute, I'm finding it hard to stomach.

Why?

Simple reason - I'm in the middle of a seriously bad dice-rolling streak, in every game I play. Anything that needs a 3+ is destined to fail, and the only time I can roll 6's are when it's bad news. In a tabletop game, it's bad enough, but at least it's over and forgotten relatively soon, but in PBeM, you can be suffering from the same bad luck in a game for days, weeks or even months.

So, let's break it down:

The Good
PBeM has let me play a lot more games of Blood Bowl than I'd ever be able to play Tabletop, especially as the gaming club I belong to plays BB irregularly, and likes to keep things fresh by swapping games systems every 2-3 months.
PBeM has also helped me make friends, both here in the UK, and overseas. I've played games of Blood Bowl against guys that I'm unlikely to meet face-to-face, some of who I'd class as close mates. And I've played guys that I've deliberately sought out at tournaments because I've got to know them over email.

Finally, it's let me experience rule-sets for Blood Bowl that I'd never get the chance to experience over the tabletop, either because of time issues, or because they're not "fair", but nevertheless fun (thinking Pub League rules here).

The Bad
Touched on that above, but the speed of the games can make it a drag, especially if you're playing someone on the other side of the world that is never at a PC on or near the times you're online. Add in when you feel the tool is against you (we all get the games where the dice roll bad, but at least tabletop it's over in a couple of hours) and opening your emails can become something you don't look forward to.
Then there's the times when you have a game interrupted by "real life". You spend 2-3 weeks playing a game, get near the end, and your (or your opponents) PC dies/ISP screws ups/email inbox gets corrupted, and you're left hanging (or you leave your opponent hanging) while the problem gets sorted.

The Ugly
Ugly - well, not exactly the right word for it, but hey, it's a cliché. Painted figures. The game is about having fun, and playing a game using painted figs. Now, I don't paint (or at least very rarely), but I like to face a well painted team as much as the next guy (which is why I often borrow teams for tournaments, but that's a different rant). PBeM can be a pain in this regard, as you can select from a range of pictures of painted figures, and attach them to the HTML roster you use in the game. Seems straightforward, but there are a couple of problems.

• Some teams have better painted figures than others, and/or a wider range of painted figures (gets a bit boring facing the same 4 dwarfs time and again). This is especially relevant when you play i one of the big house-ruled leagues,where many teams don't even have painted figs (please note: This is not a complaint aimed at Tom Anders!)
  
• Opponents that can't save your roster correctly. If, when they set up the game, they don't save your roster in the correct manner ("Save...", "Webpage, HTML only") it corrupts the links to the pics you use, and you get the default blank pic for your players. Certain League Commissioners have made it a rule that if your opponents fails to use your roster correctly, you are perfectly entitled to ask for the game to be restarted and the roster used correctly. I haven't done this yet, but I have been very close.

So, adding up all the points, PBeM has, for me, been great, and has added a lot to my Blood Bowl experience. I know it doesn't suit everybody, in the same way that FUMBBL doesn't suit everyone, but I, on the whole, have enjoyed it.

I just wish that when I'm in a bad luck-funk, I could make the games go faster.

Merry Christmas