This is my first review on BGG. Which isn't my way of asking you to be kind. Take it more as my way of an introduction.
I played the demo at Gencon and bought the game - actually the truth is I bought the game at Gencon then played the Demo. I then played the full game about 6 more times with about an equal mix of 2 and 4 player games.
For simplicity if I say TM it's the Blood Bowl Team Manger game BB is traditional Blood Bowl. I'll note now - I'm a huge BB Fan (and now a huge TM fan).
The basics are already covered pretty well in other threads or by just going to the info on FFG's site. I personally haven't played all the teams yet myself, but I've either played or played against them in various combinations.
You pick a race and their corresponding 12 starting cards. These cover the typical BB starting player teams. For example the starting players for Orc's have several line men, some black orcs, some blizters, some throwers and a troll (I don't have the game at hand for an exact count).
The races in TM are built around similar concepts to how they are built in BB. (just 3 examples)
Orcs play slower, speed in this case relates to how fast you can cycle through your deck, But they are tough, block a lot, cheat a bit regularly and can handle the ball.
Wood Elves by contrast are quick (lots of deck cycling) really good at getting the ball but aren't as good at blocking and don't have as many strong players and don't cheat.
Skaven are kind of like Wood Elves in that they are really fast, good at getting the ball, not so tough but they cheat a lot.
The other teams all have similar balances to their BB heritage. Personally I've played Orcs x3 , Skaven x2 and Chaos. I found that each team felt very different and each required their own strategy. I also had to adapt different strategies depending on who I was playing. Much like you would in BB.
You play cards from your hand to try and have the most star power on a given highlight. Whoever has the most wins the highlight reward and whoever still has players involved gets the side line bonus. If you manage to win a highlight and no other team is involved, perhaps because no one did or you injured all their players you get all the rewards (rare in 4 player games more common in 2).
It's kind of a hybrid bidding/area control kind of balance. You are committing your players, which really are your only resource, to capture the highlights - which are the area's of play. 366
But unlike most bidding games you can actually attack other players. I really like the strategy here and there is a very interesting shift between being able to play first in a given round or last. Playing first gives you the first pick of choice, but last card can be as powerful if not more in the right circumstances.
In terms of complexity there are more rules to it then Dominion for example, but it's by no mean a steep learning curve and the rule book reads well. However I have to caveat that by saying I had the luxury of playing the demo first. But after the fact when we ran into some situations not covered in the demo (like setting up the game or playing with 2 players) it was easy enough to find the answers in the book.
There is a good amount of strategic decisions going on in this game. Such as which highlights to go after, which players to use and which bonus cards to get when you have a choice. But also like in a good card game you also need to really keep track of what your opponents are doing.
It's not enough to just play your cards. A good player needs to try and think of what cards other people have played and may have left to play. Not only during the current round, but also what they have played in the past rounds. All these choices could create some AP for some players. But it hasn't been my experience yet. Also each turn within a season your options reduce as you start with 6 cards, then down to 5 - 4...1 so by the last turn you really are just picking where you want to play. It also has a similar flow to BB where you first are looking at what to do with your whole team and need to decide do I go for a safe action or a needed action. Then as you move each player your number of choices reduces.
In terms of strategy you will probably have an overall goal for the round. Typically based on which highlights and/or tournaments you want to win or just take part of. However just planning that isn't enough because you will need to shift your plan around based on the actions of others. I never found my turns to feel empty and I was definitely paying attention to what all the other players were doing, again much like BB. 884