Smash and Grab

Brace yourself people its another two parter except this time some actual gaming is involved! With my better half away for the weekend I took the opportunity to go down to Tabletop Nation for Mantic's Dreadball day.

Having heard and read a fair bit about it and as a fan of Mantic's previous boxed games offerings I was keen to have a go. Hell I was just keen to roll some dice.

As a headline I was impressed! Despite obvious comparisons its definitely not a Blood Bowl clone. Think more of Speedball for those of you that remember :)

As often with Mantic there's a simple mechanic with the devil in the detail and a strong element of resource management. It makes for another trademark tactical thinker whilst also rewarding proactive play.

Statlines are basic with plenty of action based options. Actions are completed by achieving a number of successes against a target number. Number of dice rolled is the variable.

Nothing complex but 6s explode for a bonus roll and how much you succeed by gives you bonus actions or defines how hard you hit. Positional and combo play is key.

Rolling play with no reset after a score keeps things fluid as does the incremental scoring system. 1 point for the easiest score upto 4 for the most difficult. Game score is the differential so a couple of big scores can win it for you before time.

In short lots and lots of variation and options. Tactics far beyond a Blood Bowl cage are a definite requirement. Games are quick and pressurised. I'd originally been dubious of chess clock Kings of War but with Dreadball I'd be an instant proponent.

Played three games as a novice and quickly picked it up with plenty of spare time for a mooch between the racks and glances over shoulders. Would have been more than happy to have played a bit more as a mark of my interest.

I did manage to resist "investing" in a starter deal mainly due to my hiatus status. Talk has been to get the PDFs and proxy the figures but I feel that would be somewhat disingenuous even in the face of some criticism of an established company using kickstarter. The undoubted demand settles that issue!

Humans, Orcs, Veer-Myn and Dwarves first up with plenty of others to follow including droids and tentacled xenos. How could any Bowl/Ball-Head say no?

One to mark for definite action once I'm reestablished. Humans in London Wasps colours I think :)