Battleball
2
8+
45
Global football has moved beyond the restrictive rules of the US Football League. Physical enhancements have made the sport more intense and more deadly. Players have developed distinctive skills to overpower enemy players. Some are fast. Some are strong. All are out to eliminate their opponents.
Plan your strategy to get safely into the end zone. Your opponent will do everything he can to destroy your players and take possession of the ball. Can you overpower them and score a touchdown? Score two touchdowns and you'll be the Battleball champ!
User Reviews (3)
Add a Review for "Battleball"
You must be logged in to add a review.
Battleball is an older mass market boardgame where players play a game of futuristic “football”. Game play revolves around moving your players to pick up a ball and move it to the end zone to score. It is a very easy game to learn, and it is a lot of fun.
Each player starts with 11 players on the field. Each mini has a base with a color with corresponding dice. The guys that are traditionally bigger and stronger (and slower) have d6 dice, while the faster and comparatively weaker have d20 dice, and all the typical dice in between. The mechanics are simple in that each mini uses their color’s die to both move and tackle. For moving, the higher the number, the more spaces you can move. The fast guys can potentially move up to 20 spaces. For tackling, the lower the number, the more successful the tackle attempt. So the d6 guys are much more reliable in tackles. Seeing how they are dice, randomness ensues and a d6 guy could outrun a d20 guy, and a d20 guy could bring down a d6 guy.
There are also simple rules for passing and fumbling. Also there are rules for minis getting injured and having to sit out the half, or the remainder of the game in severe cases. Each team also has a few optional special abilities that could come into play. The rules can be taught in minutes, and you can be up and running in no time. Games go for two “halves” where play starts and ends with a score. Essentially the first team to score twice wins, so if it is tied after the two halves it goes to overtime.
It is out of print, but it is a common thrift store or garage sale item. If you can get your hands on a copy, it is worth your time. Don’t expect real deep play, and it will be a gem. It wouldn’t be that difficult to find enough thematically similar minis from other games to make additional teams, and it would be fun to form a league with friends. It gets pretty decent game play for a light weight mass market game, and it could get more with a little customization and tweaking.
From a dad’s point of view, this is a great “roll and move” board game. I play this game all the time with my 4 year old boy and we absolutely love it. The miniatures that come with this game are high quality and can take a beating. The dice mechanics of rolling are great for teaching him colors, numbers, and counting the pips on dice and spaces on the board.
After a while of playing, I noticed he started to understand the strategy with the d20 side dice versus the d6 sided. He now realizes that if he rolls the d6, he has a better chance at tackling a player, but not a good chance to run far as opposed to a d20 character. This is an excellent game for teaching probabilities, demonstrating gamesmanship, and spending time with you child. This game is not for everyone, and I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone other than kids (that’s why there are kids on the box playing this). The game plays are quick, around 20 minutes each. The games components are wonderful to look at and play.
You can alter the rules to this game very easy without taking too much away. We started off by putting our players in time-out when they got tackled or malfunctioned until he understood what it meant. After more plays, it is really easy to ramp up the rules and to not lose your kids attention. I recommend this game to anyone that has kids (ages 3-6, probably the best) and wants to introduce them to tabletop games.
I bought this game from a clearance isle at a local department store a year or two after it was released. I think I paid $5.00 for it and for that little money, it was well worth it.
This game seemed to be like a main stream attempt at a Blood Bowl type game (much like Battle Masters was a main stream, dumbed down version of Warhammer). I like American Football, liked Blood Bowl back in the day and thought a fusion of those themes should lend itself to a game.
Inside, I found a good assortment of well-done miniatures, a nice play field board, a funky dice mini and a rule book.
The Good news: the components are all great and even if you don’t use them for the rules provided should be a good addition to a Blood Bowl type game.
The Bad News: The rules are way too simple to keep gamers entertained. On the other hand, fans have created a rules revision, entitled 2.0 to make the game playable. You can find links to the rules on http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/700/battle-masters
Final Thoughts: If you happen to find this game on a store shelf and it’s not too expensive, it can make a nice addition to a sports loving gamer’s collection, even if its only to strip it down for another game.