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Spazzfist |
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Post subject: The Art of War - applied to Blood Bowl
 Posted: Dec 24, 2009 - 05:40 PM
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Joined: Aug 16, 2004
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Posts: 3953
Location: Canada
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I have, for some time now, been meaning to examine Sun Tzu’s “The Art of War” with the aim of applying it’s principles to Blood Bowl. I know that the book has been used in context of business, sport, etc. so I figured why not Blood Bowl?
The book has 13 chapters, and as I read through them I will be sharing my thoughts of how they may be applied to the finer arts of the world’s greatest board game.
Introduction
The introduction share the author’s thoughts: “the focus of all strategy (is a) populous who’s willing allegiance to their ruler is unquestioned”. I wonder how this may apply to the Big Guys of Blood Bowl! (and any players who suffer from animosity!)
It also states that every military campaign (on or off the Blood Bowl pitch) should focus on achieving maximum results with minimum risk and exposure. This one is very true – that in playing Blood Bowl success comes to the coach who has to take the least risks, and exposes himself to the least danger.
The introduction also states the importance of “careful movement from thought, not emotion”. I know that emotion can be a large temptation in Blood Bowl: Despair – over the state of your game as the score or man-count is against you; Anger – as the dice do not roll in your favour; Fear – of a challenging opponent (e.g. Glenn Jones) /team (Glenn Jones’ norse); Revenge – against a particular player who threatens you or has caused you harm; Complacency - do not grow too sure of yourself that you do lose respect for your opponent’s ability to thwart your plans, however unlikely!
The rest of the introduction was dealing with some of the specific strengths and weaknesses of generals and the importance of minimizing collateral damage so that when you take over the enemy, you have more to claim as your own. The rest of the introduction is more of the author’s interpretation of the chapters of Sun Tzu’s work. I am going to forgo this for my own interpretations of the text.
More to come as time allows.... |
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#1 Nurgle coach in Canada (formerly the world!)
#1 Snotling coach in Canada
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Spazzfist |
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Post subject: RE: The Art of War - applied to Blood Bowl
Posted: Jan 07, 2010 - 11:41 AM
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Joined: Aug 16, 2004
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Posts: 3953
Location: Canada
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Chapter One - Initial Estimations: - Part One
The victorious (team) first realizes the conditions for victory and then seeks to engage in battle. The vanquished (team) fights first and then seeks victory.
Winning at Blood Bowl can be examined from two perspectives: from the individual game, or from the ongoing league.
Individual Game
The victory conditions for any one game of Blood Bowl are always the same: score the most touchdowns. Yet, it is surprising how many times I have been witness to a coach (either my opponent or myself) falling victim to the temptation to deal out further punishment to the opposing team and the lose sight of the need to score. Also, the temptation for a "safe" 2 dice block can result in a roll that causes a turnover when your player is in an unopposed position to score. As obvious as it sounds, the important thing is to remember to score when you need to score, don’t let anything distract you from your condition for victory.
On the flip side, you have to know the capabilities of your team, and that of your opponent in order to realize your conditions for victory. Some teams excel at scoring quickly, and if you are one of these, then you need running up the score in your favour as quickly as possible may certainly be in your best interest. However, if your opponent is a team that is as good, or better, than you at doing this, then playing “stall ball” may be in your best interest. Score when you do not leave them time to score back – preferably on the last turn of each half. “ Bashy teams are well known for this type of tactic – a common strategy that is very effective when coaching a bashy team against a speed team is to elect to kick the ball to them in the start of the first half. If ably coached, it will be very difficult to stop them from scoring within the first few turns. This leaves you time to receive the ball and move it forward steadily, and then score on the last turn of the first half. The opposition will then kick to you again at the start of the second half. You then repeat the tactic of moving the ball forward, causing as much carnage as possible, and then score on your last turn of the second half. End result – a 2-1 victory.
When things do not go according to plan, then you must avoid the classic mistake of having a couple of turns left and not making sure that there is at least one player in scoring position no matter how unlikely it is that you can get the ball to them. An unlikely chance is still a chance. The only thing which can guarantee that you cannot score is if you do not have a player who has the squares of movement available to do so.
Ongoing League
When considering the victory conditions for the ongoing league, you must evaluate the strengths of the players on your own team in relation to the players of the other teams in the league. Sometimes it may be considered a victory of sorts to do whatever it takes to remove the stronger opposing players from the league (i.e. kill or injure them). By weakening the other team in the long run may be sufficient to help ensure your own victory in the league. To this end fouling, and going out of your way to make attacks against these players may be preferable to focussing all your efforts to win the individual game (this is especially true if the score is so stacked against you that your chances of victory in the individual game are hopeless). |
_________________
#1 Nurgle coach in Canada (formerly the world!)
#1 Snotling coach in Canada
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Spazzfist |
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Post subject: RE: The Art of War - applied to Blood Bowl
Posted: Jan 07, 2010 - 11:41 AM
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Joined: Aug 16, 2004
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Chapter One - Initial Estimations: - Part Two
...strategic power (is) controlling the tactical balance of power (ch'uan) in accord with the gains to be realized.
To me, this speaks of how you control the flow of the game, and what risks you need to take in order to do so. The best Blood Bowl players are those who know how to minimize their own risks while forcing as many rolls as possible on their opponent.
This idea speaks a lot to some of the threads that are out there (e.g. The Risk of Turnovers). The need to control the power in the game has to be carefully balanced with the risks involved. When considering an action, you must consider:
1) What do you hope to gain with the move you are considering (stop a TD, move to a better position, move to a scoring position, etc)?
2) How bad would it be if this move failed? (would it be a turnover, a guarantee the opponent’s touchdown, or just a minor inconvenience)?
3) How likely is this move to succeed?
4) Is there an easier way to achieve this goal?
5) Is this move really worth it?
In simple terms, you should only make the risky plays when the gain to be realized outweighs the risks involved. Try to improve your offensive or defensive position with as few dice rolls as possible. |
_________________
#1 Nurgle coach in Canada (formerly the world!)
#1 Snotling coach in Canada
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Spazzfist |
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Post subject: RE: The Art of War - applied to Blood Bowl
Posted: Jan 07, 2010 - 11:42 AM
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Joined: Aug 16, 2004
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Chapter One - Initial Estimations: - Part Three
Warfare is the tao of deception...when your objective is nearby, make it appear distant, when far away, create the illusion of it being nearby.
Deceiving the opponent is a very viable tactic in Blood Bowl. There are several ways that this may be achieved.
1) “The Fake-Out” play: By setting up heavily on one side, you can fool the opponent into thinking that you are moving down that side. If they fall for the bait and over-commit, then you can make a pass play or extreme speed to move the ball down the undefended side.
2) Avoid obvious counting. Whether with your finger or bobbing your head as you count the squares. This is especially important when going for the TD with a very fast player. I recall a game where my opponent was a rookie skaven team. A gutter runner dodged away from the main fray and moved only a couple of squares away, which didn’t strike me as a threat until the next turn when he secured the ball, and passed to that gutter runner who then ran the nine squares, two GFI to score. As Sun Tzu said, his objective appeared distant, though it was near enough to reach.
3) Use obvious counting to throw off your opponent. Count square with your finger to make your opponent think that you are making a move from one player, when you really have no intention of doing so.
If you keep a player in an “optimistic” position (i.e. they can move in to score, as long as the ball can be given to them), then even if the ball is on the other side of the pitch, that player can score. This can be achieved (obviously) more easily by some teams than others. A combination of running, handing off and passing can move the ball from one end zone to the other. Again, what seems distant, can be a series of nearby objectives. |
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#1 Nurgle coach in Canada (formerly the world!)
#1 Snotling coach in Canada
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Spazzfist |
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Post subject: RE: The Art of War - applied to Blood Bowl
Posted: Jan 07, 2010 - 11:42 AM
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Joined: Aug 16, 2004
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Chapter Two - Waging War:
The first part of the chapter Referring to the physical needs of the army; the need to plan in advance and then secure the provisions of the defeated army to bolster the strength of your own. With the exception of the exception of the Undead and Necromantic teams with their Raise Dead spells, this section does not apply to BB. |
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#1 Snotling coach in Canada
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Spazzfist |
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Post subject: RE: The Art of War - applied to Blood Bowl
Posted: Jan 07, 2010 - 11:43 AM
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Joined: Aug 16, 2004
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Chapter Three - Planning Offensives:
Thus the highest realization of warfare is to attack the enemy's plans; next is to attack their alliances; next to attack their army; and the lowest is to attack their fortified cities.
What this says to me is that it id important to tknow what the plans of your opponent will be. Are they going to try for the quick score (elves, skaven) or are they going to try to form a cage and run the ball in more slowly (orc, dwarf). The Art of War would have anticipate your opponent's plans and deny them the opportunity to get those in place.
If we make word substitutions in Sun-Tzu's paragraph as follows:
plans = plans
alliances = ball carrier
army = screening players
fortified cities = cage
Then we have a more clear message:
Thus the highest realization of warfare is to attack the enemy's plans; next is to attack the ball carrier; next to attack their screening players; and the lowest is to attack their cages.
Knowing then enemy's plans and preventing him from what he plans to do is the most important. By doing this, you will force him to become careless and rash and make dangerous plays that he is likely to fail.
By attacking the ball carrier, you are giving your self the opportunity to secure the ball. But before you do so, make sure that your other players are in place to thwart the enemy's plans, should the attack on the ball carrier fail.
Attacking screening players is done as needed - see the first section about knowing the conditions for victory.
Attacking a cage is the most dangerous, and often the least profitable thing to do in Blood Bowl. For this reason the first three are the most important to attack - the first being the plan - denying the opportunity for the cage to be formed in the first place.
But there will come times when you have no other option, and to do this, I would recommend that you look at the strategies left by other, wiser people than myself on the forums already. |
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#1 Nurgle coach in Canada (formerly the world!)
#1 Snotling coach in Canada
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Shadowseer2005 |
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Post subject:
Posted: Jan 23, 2010 - 09:44 AM
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Joined: Jun 17, 2006
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| You are learning young grasshopper...but can you put into action what you have learned and beat the almighty Norse for they are you bane to becoming a blood bowl god. |
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shadowseer2005
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