Guild Ball

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7.8

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Review: Pick your 6... if you can!

July 13, 2018 by jahatch28 Cult of Games Member

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So, quick review of the Replayability of Guild Ball...

First off, a standard game takes place on a 3'x3' pitch (ie gaming mat or table with marks & lines for a few key parts of the field) with a small amount of terrain ranging from blocking terrain, barriers that provide cover, to fast ground, rough ground, and even small forests.   A standard game is between 2 teams consisting of 6 models each, plus one model (ie marker) for the ball that is on a 30mm base.

The Replayability aspect of Guild Ball only has one drawback at the moment... that you are playing a 'sports game' where the way to win is to get 12 VP either through kicking goals (4 VP) or taking out enemy players (worth 1-2 VP) with a small # of models in the game able to get bonus VP for certain take outs or goals.  That means that the standard game of Guild Ball doesn't have a variety of scenarios... you line up your teams opposite each other and play till someone wins by being the first to 12... that said, there are some variations on gameplay that you can add to your game in a casual setting or of course you can deconstruct the game and play in a different manner (including playing to a lower total VP, playing with fewer players on the field, playing on a smaller surface, or my favorite variation, playing a game with only Mascots... but I digress).

What makes Guild Ball outstanding to me and the reason I rated its Replayability so high, is the team structure... you pick one captain (usually out of 2, Union have currently 3 options), one mascot (again, usually out of 2) and then fill out the last 4 slots in your roster from your available "Squaddies" which may include some "mercenary" choices or cross-over models from another team depending on your team.  Typically, most teams have 8 to 9 available "Squaddies" to pick from, and 4-5 mercenaries... other teams have around 11 Squaddies (including cross-over models), while the "minor guilds" only have 1 captain choice, one mascot choice, and then 6 Squaddies to pick from.

Models do not 'cost' any points.. you are not building your team based on anything more than filling in your roster with your chosen Captain, Mascot, and Squaddies... and that is what makes this game amazing to me...

You can completely change the way your team plays by changing up your Captain... or even switching out one or two of your Squaddies... by going from a goal-oriented 'striker' or 'winger' to a melee-oriented midfielder or taking a 'goalie' type model, you can have very different results and ways for your team to score or to counter your opponent.

In theory, every model is designed to be 'just as valuable in their respective guild' as another... now, this isn't ever totally true... some models are going to synergize better, or just seem to fit your playstyle, or just be considered 'better or worse by the internet'... whether true or not is up to you... but it means that when picking your team, you can make 1 or 2 small changes and have an extremely different game... or you can change out most of the models for other options from your Guild and really, really mix of the way you play that 'team'.

The other thing is that even in game, the way the model activation works, and the way models "power their kicks, attacks, and special abilities" using a limited pool of Influence that is generated at the start of each turn and a more fluid source of Momentum that is generated throughout the turn to do special things like bonus dice and Heroic Plays, means that even the same 6 models can interact with the opponent completely differently on a turn to turn basis depending on how you allocate your influence, choose who to activate, and how you manipulate your momentum supply.

So, I just find that needing so few models, having so many options for models to do things in a turn, and having the ability to totally change the way I play compensates for the 'single scenario situation of trying to win by getting to 12 vp first' by leaps and bounds and makes each game even vs the same opponent and vs the same guilds to have a ton of replayability compared to other games I've played where the game depends on a large # of scenarios or where each match up tends to have a predictable outcome or where the advantage goes to the player with the most money invested in the game to be able to bring the most range of units to the table.   My 2, 4 or 6 cents as it is.  Thanks!

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