Grotty Little Newspaper

One man's rant at the World. This issue; LRB6 - Don't Believe the Hype.

Up until about a year ago, threads in the Tactics and Strategy section of the hallowed FUMBBL forum followed a familiar trend.

"What should I do with player x?" They would ask.

The answer was unflinchingly simple. Take the +ST. Failing a 6+6 roll, there would be a stream of responses, and the skill suggestions would likely come down to a choice between two as the great and the good distilled a collective million games of experience into a route of least resistance for that pixel. It was a beautiful thing, you'd know within 4 hours that the question would be answered correctly (or at least, correctly according to the established wisdom), and we'd move on to Pie, Macavity or how a team of Space Marines or farmyard animals would work.

With the advent of LRB6, there is a bit of a vacuum when a question is asked. There are new skills, new mechanics and new ways of thinking afoot; and often such discussions aren't over in seconds, there is trepidation from old hands that are unsure of the correct path nowadays, and new voices offering exotic and often left field suggestions. Fend! Kick-Off Return! That Wardancer needs Grab! Uncertainty is afoot.

So where are we then? Have things changed that much in LRB6 that we need to rip up the old ways and begin afresh? Do the new skills alter the way the game is played so much that all we knew until now is wrong? Are we back at square one? My thoughts on the matter are thus; don't believe the hype. Things have changed. But I would argue, things are still very much the same. After all, no matter how many times Star Wars is remastered, Darth Vader doesn't become a goodie.

Off the field, Blood Bowl is a different animal. I accept and in most cases, welcome this. TV management is more important than ever before. Your bank balance can't guarantee your Undead a SMACK via Count 90k goodness. Inducements make any game a game. I will accept that these new ways will take our community a while to work out, break down and master. The place I don't believe BB has changed much is on the field, you know, where it matters. Blood Bowl on the field of play is the same animal it always was. Wood Elves still Dodge, Orcs still grind, Ogres and Khemri still suck but might hurt things; it's just the mechanics are so very slightly different. If you get a new car; driving to work would be much the same as with your old car, the biting point may have moved slightly, the brakes more responsive, the stereo louder, but you're still driving from a to b on the same roads, the result is the same, there is just a slight mechanical tweak. The new U2 album will still sound exactly the same, no matter how 'experimental' they say it will be and who produces it; Bono will still be a massive tool, the NME will still label it a masterpiece; nothing will really change. And such is LRB6 on the pitch.

There are some stand out differences that the LRB6 'experts' like to use as poster children for the new way of 'balanced' thinking (balance is a word that should never be associated with BB; to make this great game of ours balanced would destroy it, but I digress to another article / rant / moan). The removal of old DP. The Claws / MB / PO combination. Wrestle. Fend. I say; meh. They will give you an avalanche of facts and figures, diagrams and experiences from their tabletop days. Tales of woe, of their victory that would only have come about with this new skill, it's silly. You, with your thousands of Blood Bowl games on this hallowed site, know better than just to listen and accept this frontier gibberish, you just need the confidence to get on and do it your own way.

You know that without the Eye and with +1 DP, fouling is less effective in a single application, but you get to do more of it if you so choose. You know that, and you'll weigh up the situation as and when you need to strategically. The argument as to whether your Khemri team was better with +2DP and a 50/50 shot of getting sent off every turn, or with less effective but more freedom around Fouling is not a mathematical one, it's a situational one. You know that Claws / MB / PO / Frenzy / Looking at you funny is the new damage rock 'n' roll. But you know what - how often did the old damage rock 'n' roll (and there were a few multi Claw / RSC and Claw / MB, multi DP teams knocking around) win a big Tournament or out-think an opponent any more than just having blanket AG4 and good Leap rolls? The number of times such a team had no plan B is mind boggling, and that won't change. You know that the Wrestle thing represents a new option, but you're experienced enough to already know how that might look even if you've never played LRB6. And you know that Fend might be annoying en-masse, but isn't a proper skill. It's not exactly a straight choice with Block, is it? And so it goes on and on and on, if only I had the space to dissect every argument I've read on this and other sites (Lord knows; TFF is even disowned by table top coaches that know what they're doing as a black hole of strategy; it is to tactics what BP is to the environment) in this GLN, but it'd never end, and you might want to kill yourselves by the end, unless you track me down first, that is.

The point is that you know what's going on here. Latently, your Blood Bowling mind knows what's afoot. That Chaos team is still going to attempt to destroy you and then score. The mechanic might be slightly different, but in many ways, your tactical response to this threat is the same. You know what, Elves might well still take Dodge, run away and be annoying. Regen teams might still gangfoul you. There might be one or two new skills that 'pull a Passblock' (wait! Passblock! forgot that, oh well) on you, but then again, they aren't that great as skills. Oh, I can't follow up that block. That was a POW? He's dead? Great, good work, Fend.

The mechanics have altered so little that I would even contend that your long term, open division strategy with the established teams hasn't changed a jot. I made the error recently of taking a Thrower early on an Elven team because of access to Leader at 6SPP. What a numpty I was. In terms of TV, I'm paying +2 for the Thrower, +2 for Leader (so one less than actually having the RR that my infinite game team will eventually want long after the death of the Thrower), and I have to field the useless lump for both halves and I need to look after him. In an infinite team, just because Leader is available, it is still the sub optimal choice. I made the error of changing tack just because the option was there. Don't make the same mistake.

When the new client comes out of Beta; I expect a furious period of play, of testing strategies and of top Blood Bowling action.

Give it six months, and I expect;

• A TV 200 Elven team will look pretty much the same as a TS 200 Elven team, give or take the odd Wrestler.
• Guard is still the main answer to 'What do I take on this double?'.
• Casablanca will be remastered in 3D by George Lucas at a cinema near you.
• There will be some frightening Chaos teams that will be bested by Elves or that game where AV doesn't crack.
• There will be a bunch of threads about the new rock 'n' roll being overpowered.
• The NME will have labelled the new U2 album, a collection of Bono's sneezes, as 'Genius that will solve World hunger'.
• Khemri will still foul you, it'll annoy you when it works, but they will still suck.
• Good coaches will still be still good coaches. Bad coaches will still be bad coaches.
• PeteW will still be the luckiest man alive, Spiro will still be convinced the RNG is broken.
• Those people that tell you that LRB6 is a new, brave, different World will have gone quiet. A bit confused and upset by how nothing has really changed.

And thank Nuffle for that.

Hello all you GLN readers, it’s Uncle Macavity here to tell you all about how I made Fumbbl what it is today! Now, I know some of you newbies are thinking, “He’s a real person, not just a poll option?” and that’s largely because you are foolish. But I love you anyway.

When I joined the site, back on November 4th, 2004 (according to my profile) it was actually already well established. I was working at a pointless job that had me do nothing in front of a computer all day, and as games were not allowed, I looked for other things. One was SkiJunkie’s Blood Bowl client, which I had previously encountered and used to test teams and play against myself as my RL Blood Bowl league had died years ago.

As I found the site at work, I posted in the forums in response to another newbie’s questions (Shepherd, should you ever bump into him). I was already acting like I knew everything, and after re-creating my RL dwarf team, proved it by losing a lot. Unlike many of the other users of the day, I could not play nearly as often as I could post in the forums. So I posted a lot. I am indirectly the reason you cannot conveniently look up post counts, as I in-advertently sparked off a ‘post the most’ contest. I have never, and will never post simply to up my count, but I did respond to every available thread, and in those days the Off-topic threads showed in the most recent at the top of the page (I may have caused that change too…..).

My unique, forum-focused, integration into Fumbbl does give me a different perspective on the site, I believe. I enjoy the competition, and thought exercise of gaming, but the way this site really shines is in the community. It is not, and I don’t think was intended to be, the most open of places. As a group we can be short with foolish behaviour, and the re-treading of topics better left dead, but Christer, intentionally or not, has not seemed to be concerned with a site that is only a reflection of him. Many times he has had to make changes of varying popularity to preserve the site as it should be, but the allowance of the groups, tourneys, teams, attitudes that are brought by us as individuals has allowed the creation of a beautiful gestalt identity I have not seen elsewhere on the ‘net.

When real life has become too much for me, I can log into the Fumbbl IRC channel, and rather than escaping life, I can get a full dose of it, un-filtered by my negative emotions. I have a wife and family whom I love, and good friends I see in the flesh, but if I ever go to London again, my first stop will be PaulHicks, Italy will be JanMattys, and if my time machine allows me to advice the young Macavity, my first internet stop would be Fumbbl!

Sappy or not, we all are a part of something special. It was when I joined, when I ruled, and when I make it back for a visit!

Your superior in every meaningful way,

Macavity

Greetings to all!

I am proud to present my very first (and possibly last!) blog on FUMBBL!

The idea for the subject came while I was joking around with Skolopender and Gus about what Freud would say about your choice of team on Blood Bowl, and what it tells about your personality. It then grew in to this rather lengthy but hopefully entertaining article on which I have compiled a list of features that the coaches of the different Blood Bowl teams possess.

It's not suppose to be serious, and doesn't attempt to offend anyone. It's just humor.

No Halflings were harmed during the writing of this article!

Enjoy!

What does your team choice tell about you?

Amazon coaches

People playing with teams consisting of half-naked female wrestlers have one thing in common with people reading Love Hina – 99.2% of both groups test positive for virginity. They are simply trying to hide their inexperience with the female kind by filling every part of their lives with pictures of women, and exaggerating how much they love the chicks. Their bent-up sexual frustration is often released as a torrent of complaints, insults and ragequits when one of their pixels gets hurt.

Perhaps related to their sad condition, Amazon coaches are very competitive, calculative optimizers. They have a hypocritical idea of fairness which dictates that they must always have the upperhand in all matches.

It's no wonder that Amazon coaches are so uptight and allergic to fair challenges!

Chaos coaches

Aah, classic choice for the coach with unhealthy fascination with sodomy. Now with a hint of bestiality! Chaos coaches are the same nerdy kids that always played as Conan the Barbarian in childhood role playing games. Consequently, they also got beat up as Conan the Barbarian in childhood role playing games.

What they lack in masculinity and muscles they make up with stubborn denial of reality. The rage that has been over the years gradually piling up in them spills out as spontaneous fits of ADHD trolling, as well as with the urge to ease their pain with self-mutilation and flocking.

Since the Chaos coaches are unable to reach their dreams of being respected and feared as violent killing machines in the real world, except by actually becoming violent killing machines in the real world, they unwind online and stroke their egos by sociopathically murdering everyone foolish enough to pity them by accepting their challenge.

But hey, it's better that they do it here and not in your public school!

Dark Elf coaches

Dark Elves are the ”butch” variant of the four Elf teams. Dark Elf coaches are therefore likely to have similar homosexual tendencies as the coaches of other Elf teams, but with noticeable emo undertones. The coaches also show unnatural interest towards leather gear that would make even Batman flinch. It's they alone that keep the district's S&M dungeon in operation with their visits. Mistress Transsexualita is very pleased of her.. his... its boys.

Generally they want to be the ones being in the giving rather than in the receiving end of things. This is particularly true when inspecting the Dark Elf coach's love life (which you really don't want to be inspecting too close).

Subtle but noticeable hints of insecurity towards the opposite sex are visible, manifesting as rather disturbing attraction towards the slender, feminine, yet distinctly masculine looking pixels. It's not uncommon for the Dark Elf coach to lick his pixel players, mumbling something incoherent about "my precioussss".

Dwarf coaches

Dwarf coaches are, like the team itself, short, overweight, smelly and so addicted to alcohol that it's approaching a symbiosis.

The Dwarf coach lives in denial and believes that fat equals power, and those model twig boys in the TV are not real men at all. This is the sole thought that encourages the Dwarf coach wake up in the morning. Well, that and his only friend – the half empty bottle of Jack Daniels. Dwarf coaches are, like the Orc coaches, traumatized by bullying and wish to take it out on others by beating opponents that can't fight back. Preferentially Halflings, Goblins and Amazons.

Also, these coaches find toilet humor to be immensely funny, and the only time they turn the television on is when it's showing a 24 hour marathon of the Jerry Springer Show.

Goblin coaches

The coach of a Goblin team feels special connection with short, scrawny, ugly players that have, to say the least, lacking body hygiene. The arrival of the Goblin coaches study group in the test department set off the chemical leak alarm, so it's fair to assume that this connection is due to shared physical similarities between the Goblins and the coach.

Much else is hard to say since further tests were discontinued due to the staff being too busy with watering eyes, compulsive vomiting and attempts of exorcism.

Human coaches

These coaches are colorless, bland people with compulsive need to prove themselves to be better than others by playing with a sub-par team. They also tend to moralize others for picking ”easy” teams and avoiding challenge. Like the people driving with hybrid cars, these people love the smell of their own farts.

Some Human coaches have been witnessed writing long, boring articles about the psychological profiles of different coaches, where they ridicule the people picking races that don't fit their narrow minded concept of fairness.

Great people, all in all. They deserve all of our admiration.

Orc coaches

The coach playing with Orcs has a fragile ego due to continuous bullying at school, which has developed in to a severe mental trauma over the years. This is seen in the Orc coach's irrational fear of being in the receiving end of violence, hence he hides behind armor 9 and a wall of muscle.

Furthermore, the Orc coaches, playing with a team consisting rather solely of big, muscled humanoids, have an increased likelihood to be closet homosexuals with domination fantasies. Alternatively, they might be missing a strong father figure in their lives, and see the Orcs as the next best thing.

Orc coaches often swim in self-deception and use obscure reasoning, like saying that they are slow and can't play ball, to justify their decision to play with Orcs. This is, however, simply an attempt to hide their rather apparent inability to cope with pixel loss.

Skaven coaches

Skaven coaches embody the essence of the team itself: they are cowardly, sly, anorectic, pestilence ridden, survivalist rats. This category of coaches is easily identified in schoolyards as the weak kids standing behind the big, strong bullies and hurling insults at the one who he the bully is currently beating for lunch money. Once the bully is not there to protect them, they quickly adopt a nicer personality to confuse their pursuers, or they simply scamper to their holes in order to avoid retaliation.

They also rely on heavy amount of whining and hypocritical justification in order to feed their pleasure center. On the Blood Bowl field this behavior manifests as the tendency to use the Skaven team's supposed fragility as an excuse to avoid bashers, but at the same time only playing against teams that are even more fragile than the Skavens are.

Undead coaches

Undead coaches get a rigor mortis of the genital kind by watching living, rotting corpses. It's not quite necrophilia since technically speaking the target of lust is alive. This puzzled the test department until we came up with a more accurate term for this sexual deviation: Attraction Towards Really, REALLY Ugly People-syndrome! Coincidentally, if any female Undead coaches are around, I'd like to say that I am available... krhm...

Anyway, Undead coaches are very morbid and gloomy people. Much like the Norwegians. The slim figure of a skeleton is a painful reminder to them of the modern standards of beauty they simply cannot reach. At least, not without dropping the fork. It takes certain level of emo self-hate to pick the Undead team. The coaches are likely to suffer from manic-depression and show anti-social behavior.

Vampire coaches

Due to the success of the Twilight movies, we have witnessed a strong influx of Vampire teams on FUMBBL. These coaches are fanboys with delusional dreams of having superhuman strength, the ability to hypnotize women into sleeping with them, and a backstory that gets them infinite amount of pity attention. Needless to say, they only succeed in the last one...

On the field Vampire coaches are role players. They are known to repeatedly quote (even after being asked not to) famous lines said by fictional Vampires, and insist on sharing details of their pitiful existence in the lightless cellar of their parents basement.

Vamp coaches talk by themselves, and pretend they are the main character of their favorite Vampire movie having a Shakespearean monologue. Thank God FUMBBL doesn't have team-speak capability. Otherwise the Vampire players would probably ask if they could lick the blood pouring from your molested ears.

Faced by certain defeat, Vampire coaches turn into mist and disappear. Or that's what they like to think. What they actually do is disconnect before the game is uploaded.

Wood Elf coaches

Like with any Elf team, people playing with Wood Elves have... lets say ”alternative” tastes when it comes to sexuality.

Usually, picking Elves tells of closet homosexuality, but there's no hint of that in the case of Wood Elves. These coaches never were in the closet to begin with! Feminine men in tights and thongs... you can't really give a clearer signal without actually naming the team: ”I Like To Do It With Boys!”

Wood Elf coaches show typical feminine behavior on the Blood Bowl field. They avoid bashers like a bad shade of lipstick, and prefer to play relaxed, high scoring matches where the two Elf teams take turns to score touchdowns. It is considered bad form to block in such matches. Should fouling ever occur, it results in ”leave Britney alone!” -style tantrum, shattering eardrums (or eyeballs).

If you love your sanity, and don't want the police arresting you for committing a hate crime, it's advisable to avoid playing against these coaches. Unless you're one of them. Or if you're bent on destroying their team a la Chaos coach, simply put them on ignore.

.
.
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TRANSMISSION ENDED!

I know it doesn't contain all the teams. I might write the psychological profiles for them as well if it's asked. The rest of the teams are, however, clones of the teams already listed so coming up with different profiles for them would be difficult.

Thanks for managing to read this far!

It's incredibly hard to plan the exact date when the transition is going to be made. Lately, however, I have been hoping to be able to do the transition after the FUMBBL Cup has completed. This is of course a bit dependant on Kalimar, as I want to be able to keep the critical bugs to a minimum.

What I'll most likely end up doing to handle the transition is to first, together with Kalimar, declare the end of the beta phase of FFB. When that is done, all existing teams will be retired. I realise that this retirement will not be popular, but feel that this is necessary for a number of reasons. In order to give something back to the people who have been testing, the test-teams will have the ability to "resurrect" at a later stage. What this means is that the coaches will be able to create a new team with the same name in one of the active divisions.

Depending a bit on the timing of when the FFB client is deemed to be "stable", the current FFB division might be reopened and work much like a proper ranked division, with the rules, expectations and constraints that we use in R today. The teams that are created in this division would, in effect, be considered Ranked and will be transferred to R when the transition has been completed. The important point here is that there will only be one single clear up of teams.

After the FUMBBL Cup has finished, the Blackbox division will be migrated to FFB. The reason for me to start with Blackbox is that it's simpler in terms of teams that are available. There are no old grandfathered teams, and all teams in that division are "clean" in terms of the current rules. After that has been completed successfully, the ranked division will be migrated.

Existing R and B teams will have the opportunity to choose to follow the migration, or transfer to a LRB4 division (Perhaps L, but it may also be a completely new division).

FUMBBL will absolutely continue to support LRB4 as long as there is interest for it. However, the official tournaments will be moved over to FFB. Coaches will be allowed to run their own tournaments in the LRB4 setting should they choose to do so.

Once B and R are migrated properly, the Academy division will be migrated as well. This leaves two divisions: League and Stunty. The L division will most likely eventually be split up in two. The idea is to allow current leagues and groups to migrate to a new FFB L, and also allow teams to choose to go to the LRB4 division.

And finally, there's Stunty. This is a division that I am not directly overseeing myself, and the decision where to take it rests on shadow46x2's shoulders. I have a feeling, though, that this division will remain as-is until the majority of work has been done with the other divisions.

LRB4 support in the FFB client is something that me and Kalimar have been talking about, but is not a high priority at this time. It may happen down the line though, but that is most likely depending on how much LRB4 traffic there will be on the site after the transition has been made.

-- Christer

Editors note – Shadow46x2 has since confirmed that Stunty will go FFB when it is up and running.

Please discuss this article here

Introduction

This article is designed to take you through the basics of understanding what HTML is, and how we can use it, as well as a few tips and tricks for usage on FUMBBL.

I will be borrowing heavily from BlackNWhiteDog's html code for beginners thread, so props to him for that. Also, I use http://w3schools.com/ as a reference.
If I say something that doesn't make sense, try copying the code into a team bio, and see what happens.

HTML stands for HyperText Markup Language, and uses tags in angle brackets to determine what is intended to be code, and what is intended to be text. Angle brackets are the ones that look like this: <>
Tags always come in pairs with one opening the section of code, and another to close it.
Tags can have attributes that determine certain properties of the effect it has.

Links

The most obvious thing to start with in a basic study of HTML, is links like fumbbl.com

the code for such a link is: <a href="https://fumbbl.com/">fumbbl.com</a>

let's break it down:
the <a> tag is a basic anchor tag, it can be used for various functions, but the most common one is as an anchor for a link.
This tag has the attribute href, which is assigned the URL of the location that you want to link to.
Then comes the text that will be made into a link, and finally, the </a>, which closes off the tag, and means that nothing that comes after it is included as this link.

Links are the basic (only) way of navigating through websites, but let's face it, simply reading text and clicking on links, to pages of more text, is boring, we need images!

Images

An image like this: is placed on a page using the following code: <img src="https://fumbbl.com/themes/v3/images/logo4.jpg" />

this is interesting... no closing tag, how does that work? I hear you all cry.

The <img> or image tag, is the basis for all usage of images in html.
It inherently needs at least 1 attribute, src, which provides the URL of the source for the image.

Also, this tag is a standalone tag, we don't want anything to be affected by it, it simply causes an image to be displayed in the browser when someone views the page it is on, but, according to HTML rules these day (yes, like all languages, HTML has rules, I laid a the most important ones out at the top of the page) all html tags need to be closed, however, as this is a standalone tag, we can simply close it with a / before the closing bracket

Logically, then, we can then combine these 2 elements we have learnt, to make links using images, like this:

The code for such a link looks like this: <a href="https://fumbbl.com/"><img src="https://fumbbl.com/themes/v3/images/logo4.jpg" /></a>

Formatting text

The next few things we might want to do are to make bold text like this or italicised text like this.

These are fairly simple to do and follow the same format we used for links:

<b>text you want bold here</b>
<i>text you want italicised here</i>

Line Breaks

Sometimes, you just want a
new line to appear in your text, though keeping it on the same line in the editor makes it easier to read. The <br /> tag inserts such line breaks into the text displayed.

Paragraphs

Occasionally, just maybe, you will want to sort your text into a set of paragraphs, with a line break in between each one, there's a far easier way to do it than using multiple line breaks. This method is the use of the <p> tag and it's respective closing tag, </p>

Alignment

The code looks like this:

<div align="left">text to the left,</div>
<div align="right">right</div>
<div align="center">and centre, though any other code, such as tables or images can go here, and would be aligned with the text</div>

This is a simply use of the <div> tag, which can be used to divide a page into sections, along with the align attributes, which, just in case you hadn't guessed, sets the alignment of the text (and other stuff) in the tag.

Tables are discussed on the next page

Tables

A table is a simple way to display related objects in a way that makes sense.

For the purposes of this demonstration, I'm going to use one of the tables that Shraaaag's FUMBBL Scripts create, though I've removed all but the first few lines, as everything beyond that shows us nothing new.

Top	Name	#
Games	Lidgaeb	32
Completions (53)	Herannaan	11
Touchdowns (54)	Udorcehl	10

In a code browser/editor, the code looks like this:
<table style='border-collapse:collapse;border-spacing:0px;font-size:1em;border:1px solid black;'><tr style='background: #000000; color: #FFFFFF;'><th>Top</th><th>Name</th><th>#</th></tr><tr class="odd"><th style='text-align:left;'>Games</th><td><a href='https://fumbbl.com/FUMBBL.php?page=player&player_id=7641485'>Lidgaeb</a></td><th>32</th></tr><tr class="even"><th style='text-align:left;'>Completions (53)</th><td><a href='https://fumbbl.com/FUMBBL.php?page=player&player_id=7647324'>Herannaan</a></td><th>11</th></tr><tr class="odd"><th style='text-align:left;'>Touchdowns (54)</th><td><a href='https://fumbbl.com/FUMBBL.php?page=player&player_id=7644028'>Udorcehl</a></td><th>10</th></tr></table>

Now then, that looks horrible, doesn't it!

Let's help ourselves to edit it, by putting the different tags on a different line, so the code looks like this:
<table style='border-collapse:collapse;border-spacing:0px;font-size:1em;border:1px solid black;'>
<tr style='background: #000000; color: #FFFFFF;'>
<th>
Top
</th>
<th>
Name
</th>
<th>
#
</th>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<th style='text-align:left;'>
Games
</th>
<td>
<a href='https://fumbbl.com/FUMBBL.php?page=player&player_id=7641485'>Lidgaeb
</td>
<th>
32
</th>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<th style='text-align:left;'>
Completions (53)
</th>
<td>
<a href='https://fumbbl.com/FUMBBL.php?page=player&player_id=7647324'>Herannaan
</td>
<th>
11
</th>
</tr>
</table>

The basic syntax of a table in HTML is pretty simple, but we need to remember what a table is, a table is a collection of columns and rows, used to display data in a logical fashion

<table>: This tag opens the table, and can be used to set the properties that will be applied to the entire table
<tr>: This tag begins a new row and can be used to set properties for a specific row
<td>: This tag opens a new data cell, which is used to actually store the data that you want to display in the table
<th>: This tag declares a new Header cell, and is used in the same places as a td tag would be, except that it is a header, and as such, the input is bold and centred (unless you define it otherwise)

Of course, each of these tags has a respective closing tag: </table>, </tr>, </td> and </th> respectively.

Controlling the layout of a table.

By default, a table will simply be as wide as the text you put in it, however the use of the width attribute enables control of the horizontal size of the table. The width attribute can be used with pixels or % values, and hence looks a bit like this:
<table width="100%">
or
<table width="100px">

The Width of each column can also be defined precisely, however, each column need only be defined once, and redefining the width of columns produces undefined results (it'll be different in every browser).

A table is also the simplest way to put words over an image, using the background attribute in the opening table tag, or indeed in any other tags for the table, to get different images behind different cells/rows
A table with a background image, would have an opening tag that looked something like this: <table background="URL of background image" other attributes>...table continues here.

That's the fundamentals of HTML dealt with, I guess it's time to dig a little deeper...

However, it's the end of the page, and the article continues on the next one

One thing you will have notice, particularly if you try using code like the table that has been laid out all nicely as above, in a FUMBBL team biography (or basically anywhere else on FUMBBL for that matter), is that you get a massive gap to your table from the rest of the biography, as well as an extra two lines in each cell in the table, this is due to the FUMBBL PHP form adding a
for every line break you include in the submission, this means that html n00bs can make their team biographies, without suffering from the text all on one line syndrome that can occur if you forget the necessary line breaks when creating a html page.

In the words of Mezir “This can seriously screw up table lay-outs unless you put all the code on a single line - which then becomes a female dog to edit."

Fortunately there is a simple solution to this problem, the use of HTML comments.

Comment tags are used when you want to insert something into the source code, without it affecting the output at all. In our case, we're using it to prevent something being read once it is inserted into the code, but the principle remains the same.

HTML comments are defined by <!-- this stuff would have be commented out -->

we can use these across multiple lines, to produce something like: <!-- comment starts on this line
continues here
and finally finishes here-->

Using this method of commenting the lines, we can prevent the
tags inserted by FUMBBL from screwing up our code, they're still in the source code for the page, but because we used HTML comments, browsers simply ignore them.

Yearbooks

Yearbooks show off a team's player pictures, biographies and statistics all on one easy to find page: Yearbook for the Terrifying Anarchists of Naggaroth

Links to yearbooks are simply a link to a specific page that FUMBBL produces, namely https://fumbbl.com/FUMBBL.php?page=yearbook&team_id=yourteamIDhere.

Another thing you may have noticed, browsing through various Team Biographies, is the use of buttons to conceal parts of the text. This is achieved through client-side scripting and generally uses buttons, which look something like this:

<input type="button" value="Show Text 1" onclick="x=document.getElementById('hide1');if(x.style.display != 'none'){x.style.display = 'none';this.value='Show Text 1'}else{x.style.display = 'block';this.value='Hide Text 1';}">

The code for such a button, and it's hidden text is: <input type="button" value="Show Text 1" onclick="x=document.getElementById('hide1');if(x.style.display != 'none'){x.style.display = 'none';this.value='Show Text 1'}else{x.style.display = 'block';this.value='Hide Text 1';}"><div id='hide1' style='display:none'>Text to Show and Hide</div>

I won't go into this too much, as it's starting to get beyond basic HTML and into the regions of JavaScript coding and HTML events, which is a whole other can of worms, if you're interested enough to still be reading, then take a look at the w3schools website I linked at the start of the article.

However, note that, the <div id=hide1 style='display:none'>Text to Show and Hide</div> is simply the section of the page that is to be shown and hidden, and could in-fact be placed anywhere on the page.

Another way to do this is the use of JavaScript, like the button, and a link tag, which looks something like this:

Text to hide and show

<a style='color:#000000; cursor:pointer;' onMouseOver="this.style.color='#800000';" onMouseOut="this.style.color='#000000';" title='show/hide' onclick="obj=document.getElementById('example'); if (this.innerHTML=='show') { this.innerHTML='hide'; obj.style.display = ''; } else { this.innerHTML='show'; obj.style.display = 'none';}">hide

Editors note: We apologise for the fact that this code doesn't seem to be working here

The code for which looks like this: <p id='example'>Text to hide and show</p>
<a style='color:#000000; cursor:pointer;' onMouseOver="this.style.color='#800000';" onMouseOut="this.style.color='#000000';" title='show/hide' onclick="obj=document.getElementById('example'); if (this.innerHTML=='show') { this.innerHTML='hide'; obj.style.display = ''; } else { this.innerHTML='show'; obj.style.display = 'none';}">hide</a>

And finally, (and unofficially, as this is not officially supported at the moment, and could be removed at any time) adding: onmouseover="showTooltip('<tooltip text>');" onmouseout="hideTooltip();" to any html tag gives a nice tooltip like the ones on the new player pages and yearbooks.

That's all from me for now.
You'll notice that I basically have given very little information about how to make things look nice, instead, the latest versions of HTML recommend the use of Cascading Style Sheets to control the way things look, further reading can be found at w3schools.com, or, if there is sufficient demand, another article from me.

Dear Prinzka,

I am the star thrower on my team, and every time we win, it is thanks to my individual efforts. All the other players on the team are second rate amateurs with no hope of ever having a real Blood Bowl career. But I can't get enough fame to move on to a better team, because even the star of a really bad team doesn't shine that brightly. I have tried to inspire them by telling them exactly what I thought, but they left me after the game tied up to the back of the stadium without my pants on.

What can I do to move on in my career and get away from my useless and ungrateful team-mates that are holding me back?

Sincerely,
Too Much Talent.

Dear Too Much Talent,

Seems like you're in deep problems - or, as I like to call it, you've tasted the brown mushroom. I assume your contract is nowhere near an expiration date, because then you'd be able to switch to a better team. That leaves just one other viable option.

Poison all those amateurs. Their lack of talent is as good a reason as any other. Either the team hires new players that are worthy of your talent or the team collapses and you're free to find a proper team. Either way, you've got what you wanted.

Dear Prinzka,

As a long running Longbeard with 2 MA, I've gained a long running fear of higher movement players dodging in, dodging out, walking away and ignoring me. The other players on the team have started calling me a useless tree and on one ocassion I found the Troll Slayer watering me with a can. Whenever I ask the apothecary what he can do he just shakes his head and walks away and I'm too slow to follow him. In a fit of rage I tried to be all I can be only to niggle myself on a GFI.

There's a meeting that I'm not invited to about the team's future and it looks bleak. Is there any way I can make the team?

Sincerely,
A double -MA Longbeard

Personally, I would've fired you a long time ago, slowpoke. But I guess we keep some objects around too long out of comedy value, or sentimental reasons.
For example, I still have the shrunken head of my favourite giant spider. He limped around because a few of his feet were shorter than the others and I think he was in a great deal of pain. It took a long time before I had the heart to cut out his heart and - mercifully - end his miserable existence.

So. Erm. My advice would be to talk to the Troll Slayer. Have a real good conversation with him. But - make sure to wear your finest troll costume...

Puny Prinzka!

We Orkzez be da biggest and da best! But stoopit cochez keep hatin us Orkz. Why dunt peeps rekon ur Greetness?

Mostly because you smell worse than Ogre earwax. It tends to put people off. Even us goblins.

Dear Prinzka

I would like to know what the secret ingredient in your turnip and bagged milk stew is. I've had my halfling chefs tirelessly (kind of) working on perfecting the recipe. We've chucked everything in the pot from Orcs to Werewolves to so-called-virgin priestess Amazons, and just can't get it right.
Your assistance would be greatly appreciated.

Yours hungrily,
Lord DustBunny of Moot-town

Dear Lord DustBunny of Moot-town,

Looks like you're awfully close to finding the secret ingredient, since you were on the right track when you were chucking in living ingredients.
But obviously turnip and bagged milk stew just doesn't taste properly without some grilled and diced halfling chef buttocks.

Remember that it also combines very well with bat droppings and squirrel tails on the side.

Dear Prinzka

Last match, my opponents seemed remarkably exceptional, making very few mistakes, though often he seemed to do things in an unusual order, as if the coach had foreseen the outcome, and called it right...

This seems to be happening more and more often nowadays, so much so that I am considering taking Cyanide to avoid it...

Your Oracle

When Death is already knocking at your door, it isn't really very wise to open it.

For issue 11 we have enlisted some experienced FFB client coaches to talk about the new client and the new rules. The Couch has been hosed down after last time, the dips available this month include a ‘Pace’ based salsa. The beer served is ‘Old Perculiar’, a heavy ‘bitter’ with a high ABV and noted for its malty taste and rich amber colour. Joining us at GLN towers are:
BooAhl: Highly experienced coach with a great deal of ‘majors’ experience.
Lakrillo: It’s partly his fault! A man with his hands on the engine of ffb.
Malitrius: long time fumbler, brought back by ffb.
Sinnyil: A convert from cyanide, who found FUMBBL from their forums.
Calcium: A regular and lively ‘character’ on FUMBBL.

GLN: To say hello, please tell the readers one thing about yourself that they may not already know

Calcium: Hi, I'm an Aquaruis. I'm also a 2nd degree black belt in Taekwondo.
BooAhl: Im a Swede who will soon be a stay home dad in Cambridge, UK.
Lakrillo: Hello. I use the name Lakrillo, when i worked as a programmer, i did 3d models for game-mods, nowadays i work as a 3d-modeller for simulators and i have done some programming in the FFB on my free time.
Malitrius: hello, long ago I did kill Enjoyment! I got a PhD in physics and have worked a scientist, now I’m a teacher
Sinnyil: Hi, I'm currently doing this from work! I live in Florida, US.
GLN: thanks for ripping your employer off and spending the time with us
Sinnyil: Anytime!

GLN: so, the FFB client. Been enjoying it?

BooAhl: Oh, yes
Calcium: My answer may be a little weird, but I will explain. No, then YES, then No. Initially I hated FFB. I gave it 20 games whilst playing my 1st love, humans, and grew to love it.
Sinnyil: Enormously. I took a break from fumbbl when stunty died down, and FFB has sucked me right back in.
Malitrius: it is like a -2d pow-pow block against a 5ST wardancer. ... then killing it too! It is the reason I came back to play some fumbbl
Lakrillo: Yesterday i played my first JBB-game in a long time, and boy did i realise why i loved the FFB-client the first time i tested it. FFB is so much more fluid to play than JBB. On top of that i have been a LRB5 and 6 fan for a long time.
BooAhl: I also promised myself to not play JBB anymore. But then FC came so now I will finish the FC before switching over forever

GLN: I imagine we might see some new players, and some returnees, once the FFB client goes live, what should they know? what are the key differences from JavaBB?

Sinnyil: The auto-move function is possibly my favorite upgrade.
BooAhl: I like the moving balls. And that you can return to a dropped game with much less hassle
Malitrius: first thing is that they do NOT need a client, you just launch the client with the betatest button (will probably get renamed soon!) and it is extremly smooth. Try spectating before you start your first ffb game, so you get to see the interface once before you try yourself. If you have played the JBB then it will not be any problem though
Sinnyil: You have to declare pass/hand-offs before you start moving your player. Also if you're a big fan of hotkeys you'll need to refamiliarize yourself with new ones.
Calcium: the disconnection/reconnection process if 100% better to be sure
Lakrillo: There is one advice i always tell newcomers to the client: Try the automove function, use the mouse and click far away from the player to have it move there. Also remember to declare a Pass action and Handoff action before starting to move. Ok, two advice.
BooAhl: I don't now how many games I lost in the begining because I forgot the pass/handoff
Malitrius: you can skip taking fan factor on your team too, as this is changed with the new rules

GLN: FFB, has it got any big flaws?

Calcium: FFB looks fine, but I did prefer the layout on JBB
Sinnyil: I think the only thing I miss about the layout of JBB is the separate chat box.
Malitrius: only flaw is that it is not the official client that we should use
Calcium: I find it too dark! Daft I know, but I think the pitch could be brighter
Lakrillo: There is a new pitch on the way Calcium and it will look much better. But you didn't hear that from me
GLN: dont worry, we won't tell anyone....er... well, we might, but don't worry
Sinnyil: I can't think of any major flaws with the client itself, beyond the bugs that have already been reported and are being hammered out. Its different and takes some getting used to, but its not flawed, at least in my opinion. It seems like the learning curve for this client was much less steep than it was for JavaBB, but that may be just because I learned JavaBB from scratch, where going to FFB there was already that JavaBB experience.

GLN: So, are games taking as long? what sort of length seems to be average?

Malitrius: no I think that games are faster with the new client. I think an average game takes 45min
Calcium: less time on average I think
Sinnyil: At first they seemed to take a little longer but after I updated my Java I realized that was a user error
Malitrius: the auto-move function really helps cutting down on the thinking
BooAhl: Less time, but one reason for that is also that I play a 12 slann team. It takes less time to play a game with less people.
Calcium: slann.....dont get me started on frikkin slann!
GLN: oh we will, but not yet
Calcium: fair enough
Lakrillo: As long as people are using automove, the games are faster. For someone who plays their first game in FFB, i think it might be sligthly longer than two good coaches in JBB.

GLN: What about automove? to quote malitrius back: is 'cutting down on the thinking' a good thing?

Malitrius: yes. but you still have to think, since it avoids the dodges. but if you have that 7ma blitzer and want to see how far he reaches, it helps
BooAhl: I hate it that it doesnt follow my mouse
Sinnyil: I'm not sure if 'thinking' is the right word
BooAhl: When my ag5 dodge guy wanna dodge, I have to think what is wrong. Why the automove doesn't work. So more thinking actually
Sinnyil: It speeds up the movement process but it doesn't do the thinking for you.
Lakrillo: The automove is bad if your main plan is hoping for your opponent to do a missclick, if you like to play fair, then automove is great.
Sinnyil: It does cut down on mistaken and miscalculated dodges. Although those of us who are twitchy still get their fair share...
Calcium: Automove is GREAT! I love it. Got nothing bad to say about it

GLN: Should the client go further? paint TZ's on the pitch, maybe even coloured for how many TZ's affect each square? Could it help more and not hurt the gaming experience?

Calcium: YES. I think there could be a facility to turn automove off for the 'old fashioned' JBB coaches
Sinnyil: Cyanide's game does that. I can take it or leave it honestly.
Malitrius: it is pretty balanced in that sense I think. Auto-move is not much different from showing how many dices you get for a block
BooAhl: I like this AI project. Maybe the future is to make Bots that play against each other, instead of coaching ourselves.
GLN: like Woodstock you mean
Sinnyil: Woodstock is the nicest AI I've ever had the pleasure to chat with.
Malitrius: is Woodstock an AI? always suspected that
Lakrillo: Coloured pitch would be ok, but i don't see it as something important.
BooAhl: There has to be a limit some where

Page 1/3, continued on page 11.

Page 2/3, Continued from page 10.

GLN: OK, What about the new sounds? what are they, do you like them? Are there key sounds missing you'd like to see added?

Sinnyil: I LOVE the new sounds. Love them
BooAhl: They are nice
Malitrius: all sounds are there I think, with lot of really nice additions!
Sinnyil: The new ones like the hypnotic gaze, the TTM, the wild animal/take root/bonehead/really stupid sounds...the sound when a vampire bites a thrall...
Calcium: the sounds are great, they really add to the game
Sinnyil: Probably my favorite is The sound a troll makes when he eats a goblin. Omnomnomnom. Its a shame my trolls never seem to be hungry. I make TTMs with my troll instead of my ogre with my pact just for the chance to hear that sound.
Calcium: TTM is the best. WEEEEEEE! damn, havent heard the 'nomnom' sound yet
Lakrillo: There are key sounds that we have planned to add. But they will come eventually. My favorite is the Nom Nom sound.
Malitrius: they are better then in the old client I think. Some additions are duh for confused, ewwww for foul appereance
Sinnyil: Ooh, yeah, the FA sounds is also awesome.
Lakrillo: I am very happy with how the take root turned out, i did the sound-engineering for that one and played away with stuff and it came out great i think.

GLN: Sounds fun. What about the poor spectators, what can they do? Do they have fun things to look to use?

Malitrius: they can call for the ref and tell us that they are bored (when we do not foul)

GLN: Is that too similar to coaching? (call boring to ask for fouls?)

Sinnyil: I think its really a given that specs want fouls period.
BooAhl: I think specs should be able to make sounds all they want. More power to the specs
Calcium: I love that feature personally! specs rule, let them have sounds.
Lakrillo: Specs will want blood no matter what, it is in the spirit of bloodbowl. So i don't see it as a bad thing.
Malitrius: I was just joking GLN, you get boo for all kind of moves
GLN: I do, yes
Calcium: should specs be anonymous? You can see who has specced when they leave, which is a nice heads up for me to find out about my 'haters'

GLN: onwards now to the new rules. Do you like?

Malitrius: I love them. feels well balanced and thought through, those rules will setup a really nice structure for how fumbbl will develop I think
Calcium: mixed feelings with them. Rules are ok, inducements are a joke
Sinnyil: I learned bloodbowl on LRB5, so I'm a bit biased here when I say unequivocally yes. Although playing LRB4 did get me used to an apothecary who wasn't a raging incompetent. And a ref who wasn't on my back on the first foul what seems like 99% of the time.
Lakrillo: I have been longing for LRB5 to be implemented on fumbbl for years. Now it is finally here and i so look forward to playing leagues in that ruleset.
Calcium: dirty tricks etc are crap.
BooAhl: Evolving rules are good. But this was a major change from the original. I personaly think they added to many skills
Lakrillo: Compared to TR, TV is a huge improvement.
Calcium: TV is like LRB6 bending over and saying 'C’MON FUMBBL..please abuse me'
Sinnyil: That's like me every time I put a team on gamefinder...
BooAhl: Why Calcium? I thought TR was a broken way to compare teams
Calcium: we already see more stockpiled cash than the outgoing owners of Liverpool FC.
BooAhl: So...?
Calcium: when cash becomes relevant its gonna drown games in stars etc.

GLN: Sounds like it's going to make the Tournament admin teams life tough...

Lakrillo: The only problem with a lot of cash is that people don't understand that it is no problem.
BooAhl: Only way it could be bad is in a big tourney and your team loses a lot of players in one game
Calcium: The FC next year will be like celebrity Big Brother
Malitrius: you can not hire stars with ffb
Sinnyil: You can its just not implemented yet, I thought. Petty Cash isn't yet implemented
BooAhl: But Petty cash adds cash to your opposition as well

GLN: What about the new skills, whats your favorite? and what was just utterly unnecessary, or just crappy?

Calcium: baboom! OMG they've killed DP!
Sinnyil: Juggernaut is my new favorite skill, by far. Probably because I like minotaurs so much.
Malitrius: dirty player got tuned down, which is good
Calcium: no malt...BAD!
BooAhl: Sneaky Git seems pretty worthless
Calcium: Fend is gonna become my new favourite skill
Sinnyil: You like humans, that makes sense. Fend and wrestle are awesome.
Malitrius: ive been a bit conservative, not taking the new skills. Took wrestle on a human lineman, and that has sucked badly. Everyone rolls pow against him
Lakrillo: Sneaky git is bad except for goblins. I like all the new skills, but they are not going to change the game. They are used a few of them per team in my experience and makes for a more varied game.
BooAhl:I like Frenzy as a general skill. Wrestle and fend is the only new skills I take seriously, and not just for testing. I will probably take Jugg if I start using a Minotaur or RO
Calcium: the new skills has made this game more thoughtfull. Now there's more emphasis on defensive or offensive team skill setups
Malitrius: and do not get fooled into taking stand firm, since you can now fail a dodge
Sinnyil: Stand firm is still good in its own right
Lakrillo: Grab is nice too
BooAhl: I dont get grab really

GLN: Big Guys have been raised, which is funny, because so have their prices. Are they a thing of the past?

BooAhl: No, Big Guys are still the conerstone on some teams
Sinnyil: Doubtful. They're more useful, if still unreliable, with Loner instead of Big Guy
Malitrius: …which means they get to reroll on 4+
Calcium: big guys are now players. Unless you're a Chaos pact coach. Then you suck by default
Sinnyil: Everyone's hating on my pact
Lakrillo: Big guys have gone from being a necessary thing to being a good player that also costs you. So you need to think more how or if you are going to use them.
BooAhl: For my Slann, the Krox is a must. Now he is a little overskilled though
Calcium: for Slann, a gun is a must

GLN: and what about the 'new Claw/RSC'? Are we going to see endless Claw/MB/PO players?

Sinnyil: Probably. People like blood.
Calcium: of course, no brainer. And it's being seen already
Malitrius: you'll see a MB/PO/Jump up player in many teams, everyone need a blitzer that knocks out the opponent
BooAhl: I’m trying to get there with my Slann blitzers. But they always roll some +stat instead
Lakrillo: We will see a lot of those players, but those will mainly hurt Orcs and Dwarfs, which i just think is a good thing. The game have moved from being lethal as soon as you are on the ground, to being more lethal when you stand up on the pitch.
Calcium: I bet Galak never expected those skills to be used like that as much as they are, balance that Mr. Balancy! At least claw/RSC was hard to come by
Malitrius: piling on got a lot better when dirty player got tweaked
Sinnyil: Piling on got a lot better period.
Calcium: aye. Once FFB goes live, it will be 'no ty' to a lot of these MB/claw/PO teams
Lakrillo: Piling on is available to all teams almost, compared to the old killer mutations. It is balanced by the loss of ageing.

GLN: So more on pitch death, less rolling skills death. that has to be good right?

Sinnyil: Yeah, I definitely agree with that. I want the pitch to be where my stars burn out, not on the bench at the same time they improve from a skill roll.
Malitrius: yeah that is good, I really welcome that ageing is gone
Lakrillo: Exactly my meaning, the stars go out on the pitch instead of in bed with a cheerleader
Calcium: I think we can all agree that ageing was horrible. Good Riddenz
Malitrius: I like the new niggle too, that adds on the injury roll, I once blocked a 4av halfling with 2 niggles and mb, but the armour did not break=(
Calcium: yeah, keeping nigglers is now an option
Lakrillo: I have failed to break snotling armor, with MB 3 times in a row...
Sinnyil: That's dice for you.

Page 2/3 Continued on page 12.

Page 3/3 Continued from page 11.

GLN: OK. I also want to briefly cover the new races, just some impressions. So, I name a team, you tell me what you think........
GLN: Slann?

Malitrius: rocks, funniest team around to both play with and play against!
Lakrillo: Really fun team, adds a new dimension of tactics to the pitch. If you think their leap ability is overpowered, consider them as humans with AG3 that relies on dodging for their play.
Sinnyil: They're always an interesting matchup, I think. Probably the best, game-winning wise, of the new teams. And its really neat to have a team based around leap.
Calcium: sucks. waste of time. utterly overpowered, leap and long legs? ridiculous
Malitrius: there is always a solution, if just the dices let you. Playing kamikazee coaches like Booahl is a real nightmare
Calcium: some players with leap I could accept. But the whole team? That’s like giving all Orcs MB
Sinnyil: or all dwarves block!
Calcium: yeah, difference is they have LITTLE LEGS, not VERY LONG LEGS.
BooAhl: Fun team. Like Malt says, I’m a kamikaze coach. And this is the ultimate kamikaze team

GLN: ok. Chaos Pact?

BooAhl: Booooring
Malitrius: does not add any new dimension. They are not overpowered and pretty balanced in my opinion
Sinnyil: Really, really, really fun team. Unreliable big guys, and super customizable linemen. Plus 3 positionals that hate each other and don't ever seem to want to let go of the ball. Its really neat to have a lineman with GSPM access. You can really do some neat things with them.
BooAhl: Maybe I will grow to like them, if I play with them
Sinnyil: And an Ogre with Claws? Yes please.
Malitrius: could be good to use in a newbie tournament, but would probably get beaten badly by skaven or wood-elves
Lakrillo: Everyone (here on FUMBBL) said that they were going to be overpowered when they first saw the roster, but i have yet to see huge winning streaks on this team. There are one or two teams that have gone good in FFB.
Sinnyil: I win with them about as often as I win with any team. Right under 50%
Calcium: I must admit, I expected chaos pact to perform better. But its early days, coaches are still learning their way around the new rules
Malitrius: Calcium got really grumpy when I won against him with my chaos pact
Calcium: hey malt. kiss my ass
BooAhl: I guess there will be a "right" way to develop them as time goes bye
Lakrillo: They have to big unreliability in the form of three big guys to be really good in the hands of a good coach that likes to play a controlling play.

GLN: Underworld?

Sinnyil: Underworld is fun, but not particularly great. Mutated goblins are pretty awesome. But everyone on the team but the troll is squishy, and not very strong.
Malitrius: underworld seems like an interesting team, have not tried. I rather play them then goblin for sure
Lakrillo: underworld are fun. Mutating gobbos is the shit! But it is still a team with goblins as linemen.
BooAhl: Underworld has potential. I would love to start playing them. But on the other hand, they are just a bad skaven team
Calcium: fun team, seems like a tough choice for any coach

GLN: New Norse? are they really that different?

Sinnyil: Yes, the snow troll and the ulfs are a pretty nice benefit to them. Some of my most painful games have been against the new Norse.
Lakrillo: New norse are great, they get the runners with higher movement and dauntless, and some more armour in the form of the Ulfwereners, the troll though is really a glass-cannon.
BooAhl: The snow troll can hurt early when he gets MB
Calcium: new norse = putting Pirelli tyres on a Skoda. They look shiny, but still have serious limitations
BooAhl: The ulfs are not that much of an improvement. The ma7 runner is
Malitrius: the new norse are really competitive

GLN: Dark Elf had some key changes too, any views on them?

Sinnyil: Assassins are terrible and don't let anyone tell you otherwise.
BooAhl: agree
Sinnyil: Otherwise, they're still awesome. The new runner or whatever they're called are an improvement in my opinion over the old throwers.
Calcium: freebooters will come in handy, but I don’t play as Dark Elves
Lakrillo: Assasins are good once the Mercenaries are implemented as cheap starplayers, other than that they are pretty worthless. The runners are really annoying to play against if they skill with NoS and run in pairs.
Sinnyil: Yeah. A pair of NOS runners is possibly the most annoying thing ever. Its like a game of perpetual pickle.

GLN: Ogres got new little friends. But is there really much difference?

Calcium: damn those snotlings are ANNOYING! the little buggers get everywhere!
Malitrius: ogres got downtuned and I think that was good
Sinnyil: str 1 is so much worse than str 2. But 2+ dodges and sidestep for all the snotlings are pretty great. AV5 is also a ton worse than AV 7
Malitrius: the snotlings got str1 and that sucks, but they cost like 20k
Sinnyil: And you also have less ogres per team. Ogres took it hard in the shorts.
BooAhl: Ogres will only be bad from now on
Sinnyil: But that's probably fair because they weren't supposed to be doing as well as they were. They're supposed to be on par with like goblins from my understanding of it
Lakrillo: Ogres have changed, from being utterly crap at low levels and being able to grow to enourmous TR, they now are a balanced team just above the gobbos and halflings. The snotlings are annoying with their sidestep and as they are so cheap, you can afford to throw them as projectiles on the opponents, thats two blitzes per turn!

GLN: and there were plenty of minor tweaks too. To khemri, Chaos dwarf, Dwarf etc. What have you made of the other minor changes?

Malitrius: khemri got changed quite a lot, mummies got +1MA and no might blow
Calcium: I will hunt down and kill whoever nerfed my beautiful Khemri
Sinnyil: And no general access correct? And decay?
Malitrius: decay is really a killer
BooAhl: CD is worse of without the troll, of course. CLaw/MB/PO will be nice
Sinnyil: I'd say Chaos Dwarves are the bashiest team now. Mutation access on players that start with block and tackle
Malitrius: yeah CDs with claw is quite nasty, they still have a minotaur
Sinnyil: Khemri I think got overnerfed. Dwarves...are still dwarves. You can play with the deathroller if you want but its probably not worth it other than for fun. And they're still dwarves.
BooAhl: Yeah, but Minotaur is worse than a troll
Lakrillo: I still hate dwarfs with a passion, that haven't changed. I personally think the Mutation on CD was the only bad move in LRB5 and i like to play with that team myself. Khemri got changed from being only bashing to be a team that might do some positioning too.
BooAhl: Necro is nice now!
Sinnyil: I haven't really gotten to play too much with specific stars, so I can't really comment on how new ones on teams affect that team's gameplay.

GLN: Necro nice? do explain BooAhl.....

Calcium: wolves are just scary, with DP screwed, wolves with PO/claw/MB/tackle are pure killers, and throw in regen and it's ‘woof woof’
BooAhl: Wolfs is so much better with Reg, Wights with S acess and the team is not that much more expensive since the FG’s got cheaper, even though zombies are 40k
Lakrillo: Werewolves should be killers... shouldn't they? I thought that was the thing about them in the legends.
Sinnyil: strength access on the wights is nice.

GLN: Are Nurgle actually much different? anyone know?

Sinnyil: Yes. Your staple players now have regen, and your linemen are cheap. Plus your positionals get mutation access normally (beast is still doubles) which makes them more viable as well.
BooAhl: decay is a bitch though
Calcium: yep. improved for sure
Sinnyil: Yes. Don't expect to be getting any legend rotters. But Nurgle as a whole is improved.
Malitrius: they get 4 pestigor (beastmen) 4 nurgle warriors, one beast and the linemens that are quite crappy (rotters with decay) Yeah they are better than before
Lakrillo: Nurgle have changed big time, they have become a really cool team now. In tabletop i have coached a nurgle-team more than 50 games and i love them. They start out weak, but if you give them some time they become competative. I expect to see nurgle winning a mayor in the future.
Sinnyil: Man, political elections are based like 90% on looks, I doubt you'll see a Nurgle as Mayor.
BooAhl: I have to agree with Sinnyil

GLN: OK. Time to wrap up i think. Thanks muchly guys, it's been fun. As a final thank you, please feel free to 'Big up' someone, to 'put a shout out', to 'namecheck your homeboy' or other such slang. You have the space to praise one Fumbbler, who is it going to be, and why?

BooAhl: Big Up to the FFB team!
Malitrius: Thanks Christer for running an amazing site, and thanks to the developers of the FFB client, Kalimar (and lakrillo etc)
Sinnyil: Whatball - Fun to play, and awesome icon work.
Calcium: Big up all the coaches that dont hate me....er....I love you Ken.
GLN: isnt that coach. singular calcium?
Calcium: sorry. Yes. My bad.
Lakrillo: Big up for Paulhicks, i hope he will try FFB and enjoy the blood in it. He teached me how to love the violence of this game, both giving and receiving.
Calcium: yeah, I second that. Paul is the godfather of foul
GLN: well, thank you all. You are all beautiful people, and calcium. Have lovely lives.
Calcium:.....

Coach Gritter’s Orc team H0rnsw0gglers are the LC 2010 champions! Congratulations! H0rnsw0gglers beat coach Tathar’s Wood Elf team Ferelve Farcity in the 2-1 final.

(For the new format, I’ll count the top four teams in each group as the top-8 for the tournament). This was Gritter’s first top-8 majors placing and Tathar’s third, all with different elf teams. Coaches rafadavila and Kryten made their third and second appearances respectively, piloting UI champions Yellow Fever and WO finalists Magerit Revengers for the second time.

Races
Orcs take their sixth majors trophy with the LC, stepping one ahead of WE for the unchallenged all-time top spot. Congratulations Orcs! WE make their ninth final appearance, equalling DE.

The top-8 featured three Orc teams, two Chaos and one each of Dark, Pro and Wood Elf. Orcs increase their all-time lead over DE to four appearances, with 47 to 43. At the other end of the top-8 table, another Pro Elf appearance elevates them above Khemri, but the skellies on the other hand hold a final placing that the Pro Elves still can’t match. There were no changes in the all-time racial standings.

There are still five races left with no top-8 appearance: Goblin, Halfling, Nurgle, Ogre and Vampire. And as usual, all the statistics are available in the post on the first page of the thread. See you in the FC!

Here are some tables: (Last updated after LC IV)

FUMBBL majors’ champions (coaches)
PeteW	3
Alibaba, JackDaniels, Petter	2
AoP-Vimes, CircularLogic, Cribbleobblepie, Fanatic, Gritter, kfoged, Kryten, Malmir, Malthor, Melmoth, neophyte, PigStar-69, ploplo25, Pmg, rafadavila, Reisender, shlominus, Synn, tomma, xcver	1

FUMBBL majors’ finalists (coaches, including the above)
PeteW	4
Malthor	3
Alibaba, JackDaniels, kfoged, Malmir, Petter, rafadavila	2
ankkh, AoP-Vimes, BigBear1, BooAhl, Borgen, Buur, CircularLogic, Cribbleobblepie, Dominik, EvolveToAnarchism, Fanatic, FischerKing, Flix, Gritter, Hovring, Jesperius, katze, KidCrestHill, Kryten, Leijonet, Linfalass, Melmoth, MPC, neophyte, PigStar-69, ploplo25, Pmg, Rawlf, Reisender, shlominus, Synn, Tathar, TheCount, tomma, Toriel, toturi, Ulrik, xcver, Yo	1

FUMBBL majors’ top-8 appearances (coaches, including the above)
BooAhl	6
Flix, PeteW	5
JackDaniels, JB, Leijonet, Malmir, Malthor, Pmg	4
Alibaba, kfoged, Petter, rafadavila, Rijssiej, Tathar	3
ankkh, Borgen, Buur, Bytez0r, CircularLogic, dadoz, Dhaktokh, Enar, Fejd, FischerKing, Gatts, Gitzbang, j0de, Jesperius, Kryten, Lewdgrip, Linfalass, Manp, Melmoth, neophyte, Oventa, OverDose, PigStar-69, PurpleChest, shusaku, Sickroy, Sinner, Tekoda, Texan, Ulrik, WG|Dark_Angel (cheater*), Wreckage	2

* Please see the news for an explanation.

FUMBBL majors’ champions (races)
Orc	6
WE	5
CD	4
DE, Dwarf, Skaven	3
Chaos, HE	2
Amazon	1

FUMBBL majors’ finalists (races, including the above)
Orc	12
DE, WE	9
Dwarf, Skaven	6
CD, Chaos	5
HE	3
Amazon, Khemri, Lizardmen	1

FUMBBL majors’ top-8 appearances (races, including the above)
Orc	47
DE	43
Chaos	29
WE	26
Dwarf	16
CD	15
Skaven	13
HE	9
Human, Undead	8
Lizardmen	7
Amazon	4
Elf	3
Khemri	2
Necro, Norse	1

FUMBBL majors’ champions (nations)
Germany	8
UK	7
Finland, Sweden, USA	2
Australia, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Italy, Portugal, Spain	1

Aghieh, Dragon Warrior for the High Princes

Today Aghieh disappeared during a match with the atloxl tanks.
My first Mega-star, and for several games recently, the only reason the team has had a chance.

However, rumours have sprung up that he decided to disappear due to pressure from the team manager with reference to him being a 'TR weight' and therefore 'hindering the redevelopment of the team'. These were soundly rebuked by the coach.

Coach James_Probert had this to say: "You're claiming that Aghieh has decided to disappear due to pressure from the upper heirarchy of management with in the team with regards to the injury he's been carrying, utter nonsense."

Aghieh was marked out to have the potential to be a legend early in his carear, when his intensive physical training regime began to pay off, and when he became notably more agile after a game with Les Morts-Vivants he looked set to become a shining star.
However, the fairy-tale was to crash and burn just a few games later, against Brutal Deluxe Reborn as he picked up a broken neck that would impair his reflexes to this day.

He then proceeded to become even more skillful, and, as he got older, he began chasing records... getting faster, even in his old age.

As the team began to deteriorate around him however, he seemed to become aware of the hard choices facing the management, as they sought to prepare the team to compete in the venerated Xenophobes' Federated Leagues annual competition for High Elves.

And so Aghieh vanished into the crowd when shoved there by Lance A. Abscess, never to be seen again!

At the time of his disappearance, he was:

#6 Active HE Stars #2 Active HE Blocker #13 Active HE MVP #6 Active HE Oldest Player #1 Active HE Most Blocks	#1 Active Dragon Warrior Star #2 Active Dragon Warrior Blocker #2 Active Dragon Warrior MVP #1 Oldest Active Dragon Warrior #1 Active Dragon Warrior Most Blocks #18 Highest Rushing Dragon Warrior
#4 All-time HE Blocker #3 All-time HE Most Blocks	#6 All-time Dragon Warrior Star #6 All-time Dragon Warrior Blocker #8 All-time Dragon Warrior MVP #6 All-time Oldest Dragon Warrior #2 All-time Dragon Warrior Most Blocks

Rumour has it that Lance spent long hours in therapy nursing his guilt over this terrible travesty. Only the consolation of a great many scaly women of the night, the wisdom of bartenders and vast quantities of pharmaceuticals were sufficient to bring him back to the field. He commissioned a skink, whilst acting as a footrest, to write notes of apology in iambic pentameter to Aghieh's bereaved relatives. Sometimes, tossing and turning on his piles of gold coins surrounded by debatably beautiful female saurus he can be heard muttering to himself, "It wasn't me, It was the crowd's fault" over and over. Such great emotion for a cold blooded reptile with no tear ducts...

Where to contribute

Those wishing to contribute to the advertising sections of the Grotty Little Newspaper (GLN) should post in the appropriate section within the correctly dated GLN forum. These are regularly checked by the editors. If your forum contribution is erased, it was probably used and is safely tucked into the correct area of the GLN.

For those wishing to contribute an article to the GLN please go to the IRC channel #GLNR and speak to Ro or anyone willing to listen :) about it.

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• FUMBBL is spelt in all capitals... NOT Fumbbl.
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