This week, we learn a little bit about the lovely Bob2Bass!
1) What’s your name and where do you come from?
Rob (Bob2Bass)
Strong in the arm, thick in the head — Wiltshire born and Wiltshire bred, that’s me. I’m a Devizes boy through and through. (Technically, I was born in Bath, but that doesn’t fit in with the rhyme.)
2) Tell us a little about how you came to play Blood Bowl and your experience with the game and the wider hobby.
I’m an old-school, long-term Games Workshop player. I started back in the Rogue Trader days, fascinated by all the Gothic sci-fi imagery. I think my first miniature was an Adeptus Mechanicus Squat in power armour bearing a power axe (yes, that was a thing!). The hobby really developed for me through board games such as HeroQuest and Space Crusade.
2nd Edition 40k and 4th Edition Warhammer Fantasy were probably the games I played the most, and hold dearest, but I’ve played most editions of both systems over time — as well as specialist games such as Necromunda, Space Hulk, Warhammer Quest, Advanced HeroQuest, etc.
Blood Bowl came a bit later for me. Although I dabbled back in 3rd Edition, I didn’t really get into it until the 2016 version of the game via Blood Bowl 2 (introduced to me by one of our members, Keith — keithmcfrenzy). That eventually led to me playing the 2020 version on tabletop.
3) What Blood Bowl achievement are you most proud of?
I’m proud to have taken part in three different leagues now (Bath, Chippenham, Devizes) — all of which have been awesome.
My proudest moment, however, was navigating myself and Jamie (podnuts) back to our apartment from a police station in Athens (after a tipsy misunderstanding… ahem) during the Euro Bowl event last year. That was quite the achievement I tell thee! And a right ol’ laugh.
4) What’s your favourite team and why?
Shambling Undead! I’ve always been an undead fanboy since my time playing Warhammer, so it was a natural progression for me. I knew nothing about the team other than it looked cool and had skeletons in it (well, if you’re cool, it does).
I love all the “Dead” teams, really, and have Shambling Undead, Tomb Kings, Vampires (Strigoi-based), and I’m currently working on Necro.
5) Tell us about the team you’ve brought into Season III. Did you select it for purely competitive reasons, or were there other factors involved?
See above — last season I took Tomb Kings, who were a lot of fun albeit challenging to play. I’m much more comfortable with my Shambling Undead, and just love to use them thematically as well as competitively.
They’re considered a Tier 1 team, so I guess that makes them competitive, but they do suffer a bit from being a ‘hybrid’ team — not particularly bashy or particularly agile, so they can fall short in both areas. That said, they’ve got a nice sprinkle of both, and tend to fare well in a league setting thanks to regeneration (though the Ghouls die to a stiff breeze, so you have to protect them a bit).
6) What was your thought process behind your roster selections, skills taken, and how would you describe your playstyle with this team?
Being a fresh team, I was able to take a skill pack this season, which is a nice little boost to compete with redrafted teams. I chose Guard on both Mummies and Mighty Blow on both Wights. Guard is a brilliant utility skill that boosts your ability to get those 2-dice blocks in with Strength 3 players, and Mighty Blow (in theory) helps level your players quicker…
The Undead team allows you to take all the positionals, three rerolls, and sprinkle in Zombies or Skeletons to taste.
My playstyle is essentially defensive — I like to give my opponent the ball, then grind them down into submission so they either have to score quickly or not at all. Then I play for the 1-0 or 2-1 win (that’s the plan, at least!).
Stalling is frowned upon in some circles, but it’s an essential part of the battle plan for me. That said, I had a chance to stall for a draw earlier this season against Tony (YellowOx), but chose to try for the win — and ended up losing! But hey, that’s Blood Bowl!
7) What are your expectations for this season? Do you have any particular goals you’d like to achieve? Who are you backing to win each division this season?
My goal is to finish in the top 4 of Division 1, but the competition is really tough! All very good players, so I certainly can’t guarantee that.
If I had to pick potential winners:
Div 1: Tony (Ronaldbeanio) — very strong performance so far and looking like the favourite, with a nasty Norse team that has a Move 8 Valk! Oof.
Div 2: I’m putting my money on a Wood Elf team to win — probably GeoSmi_20 (sorry Dan).
Div 3: Harvey (Dabull) — I’ve said before he’s an excellent player and has got the better of me on three occasions, so I’m looking forward to our rematch when he’s in Div 1.
8) What’s one thing you’d change about Blood Bowl?
There are a few things I’d polish up:
Get rid of wildly inaccurate, or at least make it deviate towards the target.
Change some skills:
Piledriver — really? Get rid of it or change it!
Fumblerooskie — I’ve never seen it used.
Change up Dwarfs — they don’t need all that Block and Tackle and easy Strength access…
9) What pitch is your favourite (rules, artwork, whatever)?
I like my 2016 Dark Elf pitch — the artwork of the Black Ark and tentacled leviathan is cool, and I’ve drawn white dots on it for easier miniature placement.
10) Outside of Blood Bowl, tell us a little about your life and main passions.
I work in digital marketing as a Web Analytics Manager. I love running and spending as much time as I can with my family.
11) Pirates or Ninjas?
Skeletons! (The Sinbad stop-motion ones.)
If I have to choose though, I’d say Ninjas — I used to love all the 80s martial arts movies you’d find in the video shop, and most of them had ninjas as the bad guys at some point. There were loads of ninja-based games at the time too, like The Last Ninja, Shinobi, Kung Fu Master, among others.
12) What’s your favourite film?
Probably The Matrix (the first one), although there are loads I hold dear — Robocop, Total Recall, and The Terminator, to name a few.
Thanks for sharing Rob.
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