You purchase a keg of extra-special Bloodweiser magic ale for 50,000 gold pieces, and get a lovely lady to serve players before going out for each drive. The combination of the ale and the young lady serving it means that for each purchase of this inducement, players on the team gain a +1 modifier to recover from KO’d for this match.
Overview:
As far as Inducements go I would say Bloodweiser Babes are one of the best options for nearly every team to take. Usually when a rookie team is going up against one that is much more experienced, most sides are going to suffer from some knock outs. The less developed teams will usually also have less players on their team, so any players of your that stay knocked out will make it even harder to compete on the pitch. That is where the Bloodweiser Babes come in, giving you the option to try and keep as many of your players available for setting up on a kick off. Playing a game with 11 players at the start of a drive is so much easier, even as a trade off for less but more skilled players (there are exceptions as with most things)
Bloodweiser Babes are also the cheapest option to take, so for those close Team Value (TV) match ups you may be only able to hire one babe but getting KOs back on a 3+ instead of a 4+ roll could make the difference in the result of the game. If you are playing a large TV difference I think it is wise to hire the maximum two Babes to get 2+ KO recovery rolls. I don’t feel that there are better options for your 100k inducement money, for their relative cost they can provide you with quite a large value of players being available, especially if you are a lower armour team.
Exceptions:
So when wouldn’t I suggest taking them, or rather what options and circumstance do I deem alternatives a better choice. The first one would be on teams where you have a lot of players, if you have quite a lot of players available on your substitutes bench, then you may be able to still set up with 11 players every drive without having to rely on all your KOs recovering for the drive. Of course chances are that your substitute players may not be anywhere near as useful or good as the ones in the KO box. You may see this as an opportunity to get those substitute players some extra SPP, otherwise if you aren’t going to use them, might as well sack them and you would have been able to hire a Babe instead as most players are probably worth 50k on average.
Hiring a Bloodweiser Babe (or perhaps a second) may make the difference between being able to afford other options. This may be Star Players, a Wizard, a Master Chef, or any of the other alternatives. Perhaps you could hire an extra player which may help out more on the pitch and also effectively allow you an extra substitute.
High armour teams may decide to take the chance that they won’t suffer many armour breaks and therefore KOs during the match. This may be even more likely if you are facing a team that isn’t likely to be hitting you a lot, like some of the elven teams for example. In these cases some of the other options may be more useful to you (though you never know!)
Summary:
When selecting like this you need to decide what your aim for the game realistically is, or some kind of game plan. If the other team is light on players you may want to hire a Star that could let you damage their team and help you get player advantages, are you more concerned with trying to win the game at any cost, or just after trying to protect your players more so not to give you long term damage (taking an extra apothecary instead perhaps). Most matches though I feel that Bloodweiser Babes offer the best between value for money, survival (not being outnumbered means it is harder for the other team to hit you as much), and chance of winning (or at least competing, again by having more players available). This is perhaps the safe choice and if you want to take options that are more risky or perhaps fun, then there is nothing stopping you!
You forgot to mention Bloodweiser Babes are hot, Wizards are not 😉 (unless they’re female wizards)
Thank you for this I was on the fence about Bloodweiser babes but I certainly could have used them last game.
I play a woodies team in an extremely bashy league and half the time i’d choose not to take a babe as if my players are in the box at least they are safe!
Perhaps worth mentioning that dwarfs have less need for babes due to their thick skulls which make KOs less then half as likely.
That does make sense, though the fact Dwarf teams usually don’t get outnumbered often means they will have fewer players on their roster. They also suffer more from having less players in a drive than other races. Because of that it can still be worth taking babes to recover the KOs to keep the full compliment of players. Depends how much inducement money they get and how useful you deem the alternatives. An extra Apothecary might be of more use than two Babes perhaps for example. Thanks for the comment.
I play Ogres I have found that babes are life savers snotlings get KOed alot so a babe helps to keep the numbers game way in my favor. On the off chance an Ogre goes down I want him back in the game quick.
The value of the babes depends on the two teams on the pitch.
When they are both bashy the babes help not losing the number advantage, especially at high TV where you can have very skilled (specialized) players. On the other hand the wizard can achieve this as well, being able to break that cage or take down the ball carrier where 2 or 3 of your players couldn’t.
At lower TV you usually have less subs but also less rerolls and when you are facing teams that are likely to have few of them (elves and lizards come to mind especially) I find that it is worth it to steal one of those rerolls rather than buying 2 babes as the other team is less likely to bash you out.
Of course the babes are the safer choice, but reducing an elven team from 3 to 2 or better from 2 to 1 reroll is more game-winning than being able to field 11 players instead of 10 in the second half. The same thing goes around if you’re an agile team in early development, it can help more to go to 3 rerolls if you’re facing another light team because that kind of game is decided by turnovers more often than by injuries.
I love the bloodweser babes. I take two when I can. Its way better than a wondering apoth, or another re-roll. Than again It always seems like its my team giving the other team the babes. Some times I curse you coach for making my team so good. I just beg of you to add a Norse section for me so I can really know what to take for my board game team.
I disagree with the majority of this page. I am in a league that when inducement purchasing is an option, the norm is to buy 2 bloodwiser babes and a wandering apothecary. I break this norm. i think this use of inducements is too defensive. It’s as if you would be playing “not to lose” as opposed to “trying to win”. I spend my money on game effecting purchases, like wizards (huge touchdown saver) and cards. If i have a lot, i always purchase the stronger cards but that is for a different thread. All in all, bloodwiser babaes are great for rookies. Simple and easy to understand. But i play to win.
This page was about the use of Bloodweiser Babes rather than the tactical choice of which inducements to take which is far more dependant on the two teams in question for that game. Not getting outnumbered from lots of KOs can pay a big part in winning the game. You also shouldn’t forget that different coaches have different reasons for playing. Another thing to consider is the league format, where a loss can be easily taken and you can still win overall but losing lots of players could have a detrimental knock on effect.
It isn’t as clear cut as taking them just means survival (as getting outnumbered leads to suffering more casualties) and not taking them means you win the game. Each game and the inducements you take needs to be taken separately on the merit of all the over riding factors. Thanks for your input though.