An almost 100% translation of the board game, it's awesome - but not without some flaws.
But a regular Counter Strike fan would look at the modifier on the roll to pick up a dropped ball and just go "WTF? Y c4n'7 I ju5t p1ck up t3h ba11?" Or why when presented with picking between the results of a roll when attacking an opponent, the computer makes you choose between "Attacker Down" (you're guy knocked over, possibly KO'd) and "Defender Down" (same, to Defender), and not simply choosing "Defender Down" for you.
Not to mention that even with the tutorials, a newcomer won't understand what the HELL is going on. The interface isn't particularly well established even at a fundamental level (there's just a LITTLE too much clutter) and the tutorials are text only, and barely explain anything but the minor basics, leaving the player to fend for themselves against vicious AI or an even more vicious Online League.
And, the load times are pretty tedious. For how small the "Pitch" is, you wouldn't think it'd take that long to load. But it's a minor gripe.
But if you can penetrate the complexity, the text you'll have to scroll through, and the frustration of knowing that the first few teams you put together and matches you play will be horrible, you'll then be subjected to a pretty darn good (and definitely UNIQUE) gaming experience. Not to mention pretty darn addictive.
You'll start out with an average team, assembled to your preference, and they'll gain persistent skills and injuries across the length of the campaign, where you'll compete against a plethora of other teams of all different races and types, leading up to the final competition, the Blood Bowl itself. You'll have to negotiate a contract with a sponsor (which I think should've been expanded just slightly, because it apparently doesn't matter which sponsor you choose, they all give the same amount of money), and if you want to win you'll have to commit a decent sum of money to bribes, Cheerleaders (which affect how well a roll will go for you when the Crowd is involved and how favorably they view you generally) as well as an Apothecary to heal badly injured players.
The actual matches themselves are great, with very high levels of tactical thought and a simple action like failing to pick up the ball in the first turn changing you entire game plan. I don't think I've yet mentioned that a failed roll during your turn means that it ends immediately, switching over to the opposing player's turn. This means that everything has a level of risk attached to it - if you choose to run through that player's tackle zone before going for a touchdown, you might fail the roll and lose the game as a result. This only means you'll be thinking on a higher level than you have in most other games.
On a side note, the announcers are funny with their tongues firmly in their cheeks, but they run out of things to say after about 2-3 hours, and then you'll only hear them talk about something different when you confront a new race.
Overall, the gameplay is addicting and the complexity of the rules is actually somewhat satisfying, if you can understand them. If only the game had been presented better, and the loading times had been shorter, this would've been an even better title than it already is.